


Twisted Memories

by SushiFreak101



Series: Twisted Memories [1]
Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Detective MC, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, MC always refer twst characters as boys, Not Beta Read, Slow Updates, a mystery is afoot, like MC gives a shit xD, maybe I dont know xD, roasting the Great Seven, tags will be updated as story continues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24646687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SushiFreak101/pseuds/SushiFreak101
Summary: Ren Falken is a detective and she is confused. One day she is about to die from a fatal injury, and then suddenly she is in a magic villain school in another world?! All she knows is that she is not paid enough for this. Wait... did she just shrunk?Join in on this adventure as she tries to figure out what is going on with this school, the students and most importantly; herself.
Relationships: Ace Trappola & Original Character(s), Azul Ashengrotto & Original Character(s), Deuce Spade & Original Character(s), Dire Crowley & Original Character(s), Divus Crewel & Original Character(s), Grim (Twisted Wonderland) & Original Character(s), Jamil Viper & Original Character(s), Kalim Al-Asim & Original Character(s), Leona Kingscholar & Original Character(s), Ortho Shroud & Original Character(s), Riddle Rosehearts & Original Character(s), Ruggie Bucchi & Original Character(s)
Series: Twisted Memories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024156
Comments: 59
Kudos: 205





	1. Chapter Zero: A Detective's Plight

**Author's Note:**

> So I really like Twisted Wonderland and I wanted to try writing out a fanfic based on it! this is my first fanfic and I hope it goes well. (this is also my first time using this website XD)

Prologue

Chapter Zero: A Detective’s Plight

“Team one, in position.” A group of men was waiting in a grey six-seated car, stationed a few blocks away from the detective and her team of four.

“Team two, in position.” Another group of six was stationed down the street.

“Team three, in position.” She ended the transmission from her walkie-talkie as she turned to her teammates from the driver seat. They all looked rugged and worn out as if they had not slept in weeks. But their postures were rigid, fists clenching washed out pants and eyes burning with conviction. If anything, they looked livid. Well, except for one. The youngest of the group, Fynn, was tucked away in the back seat fiddling with his zipper on his hoodie.

The sleep-deprived detective signed inwardly as she looked back down and shifted through her documents on their man. Barrett Keele, the prime suspect of three burglaries and four arson cases. The victims of those burglaries were haughty businessmen, mainly in the construction sector. They made such a racket when they arrived in the police department, furious that their profitable projects were turned to cinders and demanded his capture.

After weeks of endless inquiries and searching through several possible locations of his next heist, they have deduced the next big target would be the YL Construction company, their works were well-known for their elaborate structures and intricate wall designs. With three teams of highly trained officers surrounding the place, security cameras overlooking the possible exit routes in the building, the probability of their suspect escaping after taking the goods was low.

"Ugh... I can't stop fidgeting..." The detective blinked as she looked back to see Fynn, his hands now sweaty and was rubbing them against his dark jeans.

She turned around from her seat to get a better look, the other men followed her gaze, "Hey, you doing okay?"

The rookie flinched, back straightened as he gave a strained smile, "N-no! Not at all, sir. Ah! I mean, ma'am!" She raised an eyebrow, amused by his blunder. The tension in the car lightened a bit, his seniors snickered at the stuttering boy. Poor Fynn was already looking down, his face burning red with embarrassment.

She reached out and ruffled his curly brown hair, "At ease, rookie. Listen up."

Seeing her junior looked up with his big doe eyes, she smiled softly, "It's alright to feel scared. This is your first big gig, after all. And once we're done with this son of a bitch, drink's on me."

That gave her team a spark of motivation. "You mean it, detective?!"

Goodness, you could even see their tails wagging if they have any. She shook her head in exasperated fondness. "Yes, I mean it. But don't go spreading to the other teams. I'm not feeling that generous." But it was no use, the men were already whooping as if the day was done.

"Team three! Come in, team three!"

They sobered up immediately and looked to the front, the chief's gruff voice mixed with erratic static could be heard from the walkie-talkie.

The detective snatched the walkie-talkie and answered the call, "This is team three. Come in, team one."

"While you're busy yappin' about victory drinks, we've just received information that there's movement coming from the thirty-fifth floor. That's our man. Get ready." Team three visibly cringed, realizing their superior had heard everything from the start.

"Yes, sir!"

"Remember the plan. Team three will go in as the ambush squad. Team one and two will go in afterward. If anything goes south, we'll dispatch our backup. Are we clear, rookies?"

"Crystal, sir!"

"Watch your back, Detective Falken. Don't screw this up."

She paused for a moment and smirked as she brought the walkie-talkie to her mouth, "Wouldn't dream of it, pa Chief."

Falken cut the call before she could get an earful from the police chief. She looked back and snorted at her team's stupefied looks. It was not the first time she talked informally to her father during working hours, though it still amused her to no end.

************************

"Freeze!" Falken kicked open the door and aimed her gun at their suspect, who had already looted the valuables and was dousing the director's room with flammable liquid. Her team followed suit.

Her eyes narrowed, something was not right. During the briefing, she was warned that Barrett Keele was a dangerous burglar and arsonist. He would attack relentlessly and stop at nothing to finish his tasks. She had expected the man would jump at them. However, he just stopped what he was doing, looking dazed, confused even.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she needed to finish the job. She motioned her men to stay back as she approached him with slow steps. “Barrett Keele, you are under arrest for burglary and arson. You have the right to remain silent and the right for an attorney.” The man blinked twice before nodding his head, the canister was thrown aside unceremoniously before raising his hands above his head.

Falken could not believe it. 'Well, that was anti-climatic.' Who would've thought the infamous burglar-arsonist was a wuss. She beckoned her men to come closer, their guns holstered back in their pockets. Fynn fumbled with the cuffs before successfully handcuffing the suspect.

After that, the rest of the teams came over to clear the mess. Team one was in charge of collecting and assessing the stolen valuables, team two in charge of sweeping the oil from the floor, and a couple more keeping an eye out of Barrett. She could see Chief Falk- father looking very proud and gave her a thumbs-up before resuming his discussion to the officer beside him.

Falken could feel her brows furrowing. Was it alright to leave it as it is? Was she overthinking things? Though, she can tell that the officers just want to get this over and done with. The detective stretched her arms to the ceiling before walking towards the exit. She needed a long bath, some cuddling time with her Didi and a cup of-

**Ah… my beloved…**

She stopped in her tracks, tilted her eyes to her right as she slowly turned around. A glint of silver, coming from Barrett’s sleeves. She froze and looked back to see Fynn taking down notes while standing so close to a window. She had to act quickly. Those two officers did not notice he was walking ever so slowly, towards her oblivious member.

**The rarest flower of evil…**

"Fynn! Move away!"

It was as if time was moving very slowly. Fynn looked up to see Detective Falken running towards him looking frantic while the arsonist was suspiciously moving closer as well with long strides. He looked down and saw he was holding a knife with his handcuffed hands. Before he could react, Falken had grabbed him and pushed him to the side roughly. Fynn could not process what had happened until he heard a strained gasp.

**Yes… You are the most beautiful in the world**

"Detective!" He was horrified. Detective Falken just saved him, and she took a knife to her shoulder! It was chaos in the room. Officers were yelling and shouting with their guns aimed at Barrett. Chief Falken looked absolutely furious. If it was not for that officer holding him back, he would have already punched Barrett to death.

**Mirror, mirror on the wall…**

Clenching her teeth, Falken swung to her right, her elbow jabbed the arsonist's side. Barrett faltered and was forced to step back, the knife had snapped from the force. The arsonist was left with the hilt in his firm grip while leaving the panting detective the blade embedded in her left shoulder. The officers quickly held him in place by using their body weights.

**Who is the best-**

Falken hissed in pain as she reached for her bleeding wound, but her trembling hand could only hover as it hurts to even stretch her muscles. The blade must have damaged near the nerves because every small movement sent a spark to her shoulder. Her vision was getting blurry, she was losing consciousness. Damn it!

**Guided by the mirror of darkness…**

Everything was so noisy. Wait. Coming towards her were- footsteps?! Eyes widening, Falken looked up to see the arsonist had already thrown the officers away and was charging towards her. Even as her father shot several times at him, Barrett did not stop until he gave a hard shove to her stomach. Then, Falken could hear the wind echoing in her ears, everyone was looking at her in fear, the shattered glass surrounding her teary vision. Her distraught father, running with his hands reaching out desperately.

**If you ever so desire, take thy hand within the mirror**

Falken quickly reached out to him, faces lightened with hope as their hands almost within reach. But their expressions faltered quickly, the tip of their fingers barely brushed each other. Her father leaned out the window crying as he watched his daughter disappearing into the dark shadows.

"AHHHH!!!!!"

"REN!!!!"

**Flames that turn stars into ashes,**

This was it. She was going to die. She could not stop crying, her tears flowing upwards from her face.

**Ice that imprisons time,**

"I'm sorry guys," She slowly closed her eyes, resigning to her fate. "Guess someone else would buy you drinks."

**The Great Tree that swallows the sky,**

NEIGH

Wait, was that a horse? Her eyes flew open, head angled towards the noise. Something was moving towards her, she tried squinting for a better look. It was coming faster and getting bigger.

**Do not be afraid of the power of darkness,**

A skeleton horse! There was a skeleton horse dressed in fancy fastenings, galloping- no, sprinting towards the falling detective. It was pulling a rather fancy carriage with eerie green lanterns, one you could find in the Victorian era.

She did not understand. She must be getting delirious from the excess blood loss. "Is that... the Grim Reaper?"

**Come now, reveal your power**

NEIGHHH

Once it had closened the gap between them, the horse made a hard steer to the right, pulling the carriage to its side to the detective. The doors automatically opened for Falken to fall right in and into the coffin. The sudden impact of hitting a solid surface had pushed the blade deeper, Falken passed out from the sheer intense pain.

**For me, for them, for you**

  
**We are all running out of time**

  
**No matter what, never let go of thy hand**


	2. Chapter One: The Detective's awakening!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm trying out this rich text format, wonder it turns out. Please bear with me for these few chapter as I'll be trying out a few stuff. ^^'

Chapter One: The Detective's awakening!

_ "Detective!!!" Fynn... Why are you looking at me like that...? Why are you crying? _

_ "Drop the knife, or we will shoot!" Everyone looks distraught, they're pointing their guns at... who? Their hands are trembling... what are they afraid of? _

_ "Requesting for backup! Detective Falken is down! I repeat, Detective Falken is down!!" I'm... what? My shoulder hurts... so much... What's going on...?? _

_ "Ya son of a- Stay the hell away from her, Keele!!!" Pa? Why does he sound... like this? Wait- Keele...? _

_ UAARGHHHH!!!!!! _

STOMP STOMP STOMP!

CLANG! CRASH!!! 

_ Wait... Why am I falling??! Someone help!!! _

_ "REN!!!!" _

Ren woke up gasping for air, her eyes darting about wildly as she tried to access her surroundings. Realizing it was too dark to see, she then felt blindly around her body only to wince in pain. The memories started rushing back to her like a freight train, her face whitening in dread.

_ "Oh, right. I was stabbed... by Keele. It wasn't a dream... wait- am I even alive??!"  _ Careful not to agitate the wound further, Ren tried to breathe evenly, slowly reached for the other hand and felt for her pulse. Next, her neck. Then her heart. It was pumping steadily as any human heart should be. She threw her head back and blew a sigh of relief. 

She was alive. Miraculously, she survived the fall. It should not have been humanly possible, but it did. But how? Ren frowned and quickly shook her head.

_ "No. Now that's not important, Ren. First things first, let's figure out where the heck am I. Maybe if we hurry, we might be able to aid Pa and the others about Keele. ...Though with our current state, he might yell at us to stay put."  _ With her mind made up, Ren moved her uninjured hand around till she felt something hard and smooth in front of her. Confused, she stretched both arms to her sides, shifted her feet against the ground while shuffling her back, only to find similar surfaces around her.

_ "These are... wooden surfaces? I don't remember the morgue having wooden containers for corpses. And it's too hard and cramped to be a hospital bed..."  _ With her fingers running along with the shape, her face paled in realization.  _ "Is this... a coffin??! Am I about to be buried alive?!!!!" _

"Aw crap! People are coming in soon! Quick, gotta find a uniform!"

RATTLE RATTLE

Ren stopped at this new voice. It sounded really close. The coffin started shaking as the rattling sounded urgent, along with aggressive grunts and knocks. She quickly placed her hands on the walls beside her, hoping to balance herself.  _ "What is going on out there? Is someone trying to steal corpses?? But this is perfect, perhaps this strange person could get me out of here!" _

"Ngggh!!! This lid is too heavy!" Ren blinked twice.  _ "Too heavy? Is this a child talking? Who on earth let a child in a place filled with cold dead bodies?!" _

"If that's the case… it's time for my special move!"

Her face scrunched in confusion at the weird person- kid(?)'s ranting before she smelled something burning. Eyes widening, she immediately started banging and kicking the door, ignoring the way her shoulder aches with all the arm swings and movements.  _ "Forget about burying me alive. I'm about to be cremated!!!" _

With a firm kick, the door flew open as she flung out from the coffin and landed with a loud thud. She groaned as she tried to get up from the ground, blood was already seeping from her opened wound.

"Gyaah!!! W-why are you awake?!" That high-pitched voice shrieked. Ren looked up to see not a child, but a small grey creature with a white underbelly looking very freaked. Was it a cat? A rat? Or a raccoon? Whatever it was, it even has blue flaming ears and a pitchfork shaped tail? And it talked.

"What are you supposed to be? A fire rat?" she blurted out the first thing in her mind. ...That was weird. Did she sound... higher than usual? 

The creature looked very offended, "Who are you calling a 'fire-rat' human?! I am the Great Grim, y'know!"

Ren could not process what she was seeing. A part of her wanted to believe it was all a hallucination, a psychedelic dream perhaps? But the fact that her left shoulder was still throbbing, and she could feel the heat waves from the remnants of the flames reminded her that this was real. This was reality. She had a blade in her shoulder, no means of protecting oneself, and she was facing a creature with the temper of a child, capable of roasting her with a flick of its paws. She was clearly in a disadvantaged situation. 

She looked to her left and right and found that she was in a large room filled with floating coffins, lamps glowing an iridescent green giving off a very creepy vibe. In the middle lies a three-step cylindrical platform and a large mirror, long enough to reach an adult's height. There were large glass panel windows with velvet-red curtains. She considered jumping out of them, but she just survived from one. Better not risk it again.

As her eyes looked ahead, a double front door with elaborate woodwork was right behind the creature, give or take a few feet away. Her lips twitched, she found her escape route. Now how to avoid the-

"Anyway. Hey, human!" Ren looked back down when the fire-rat clicked its tongue, its blue eyes giving off a wicked gleam. "Give me that uniform you're wearing. If not, you'll be roasted!" it raised its paws, igniting its flames around it as if emphasizing the 'roasted' part.

_ "Uniform?" _ She looked at herself and was shocked. She was wearing a dark hooded ceremonial robe with golden trimmings, lined with a layer of purple cloth adorned with crossed keys motifs. It felt rather large on her body, the sleeves already draping to her thighs, the gown length pooling at her feet. Even the hood was obscuring her vision a bit. Perhaps she could use this...

"I don't know why you would want this one, it'd be so big you could drown in it! You'd probably burn right through it, fire-rat!" Ren tried goading it as she slowly spread her feet, body crouching with her arms readied at her sides.

"As I said, I'm not a fire-rat!!"

With an angry growl, it leaped towards her before landing its face straight into the opened coffin. She had already ducked to the side and quickly closed the lid before dragging it down on its front with one arm. It was a lot heavier than she thought. 

"Fgynaa! Let me out, human!!" The coffin was shaking to the sides, paws scratching and banging the wooden walls. Ren was already breathing heavily, her left shoulder drooping lower than her right. As much as she would like to clear this mystery of the talking fire-rat, she should be finding a place to fix her shoulder, like an infirmary. Slowly, Ren scooped up the curtains of her robe while dragging her feet towards the door. Using all her strength of one arm, she managed to push out enough space for her. What she did not know, a clear trail of red followed behind as she closed the door.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Night Raven College. The most prestigious magical academy where magicians with a unique aptitude for magic had gathered from all over the world, the world we know as Twisted Wonderland. Only those who were seen as worthy by the Dark Mirror could attend the school. Every year, the school hosted a ceremony for the first-years to be assigned to their respective dorms.

YAWNNN

The boy rubbed his eyes as he walked behind his dorm leader, all dressed in their ceremonial robes.  _ "That sounds really great-s and all, but can't they host the ceremony any other time? It's way past my bedtime- Oof!" _

The boy bumped against his back as his dorm leader stopped walking. He stepped back to see him looking left and right, his tail swishing violently.

"Hmm? What's wrong-s, Leona?"

Leona's eyes narrowed, letting out a low growl. "Ruggie, do you not smell that?"

Ruggie arched his eyebrows before giving the air a whiff. He then froze and looked back to Leona, "T-this is..."

"Blood. Of a youngster, no doubt." The were-lion could feel his nose twitching, he used his sleeve to block the scent. The whole Mirror Chamber reeked of it, and he was only a few feet away from the entrance doors. But it was not just the smell of iron that was bothering him, it smelled of-

"Want me to check it out-s? I can tell you can't ignore this." Ruggie placed his arms behind his head to look nonchalant, but even he could not stay still. Leona stared at Ruggie for a moment before nodding his head, "Get out of here before I change my mind."

"Roger-s!" 

Ruggie ran to the other direction, occasionally sniffing the air until his ears picked up a hitched gasp. He paused in his tracks, head swiveled to one of the rooms. He was now in front of a slightly ajar door with the signboard labeled as "Infirmary" in cursive letters. His nose twitched at the smell of iron emitting through the gap, he inched closer to take a peek.

His eyes searched around the room until he spotted a small figure wearing a similar ceremonial robe on the ground, backing away from the sink area. Could they be one of the first-years? The hood was hiding their face, but the student kept staring at the mirror above the sink. It was as if they saw something in there that made them fall to the ground. Ruggie then looked down and realized there was a patch darker than the rest of the robe on their back. He could feel his big ears flattened as his eyebrows furrowed.  _ "Whatever did that student do to get-s such a huge scar?" _

As Ruggie was about to approach the student, the glass windows shattered as his vision was obscured by blue flames. He quickly looked away, blinking his eyes rapidly to get rid of the purple blots.

"You really think you'd get away from me? Dumb human!" Ruggie looked back to see a cat creature looking really smug, while the injured student looked exasperated.

"Y-you again? I thought I trapped you in that coffin!" His ears flickered. Did that student sound... feminine?

"Hmph! If you think some dumb coffin is gonna stop the Great Grim, you got another thing coming!" Another wave of flames burst through the ground, making the student flinch away.

"Now! If you don't wanna get roasted, you'd better hand over... hmm?" The cat creature paused, got on its fours, and walked closer to get a better sniff.

"...Hey, human. Are you hurt-"

KER-SNAP!!!

"Oww!! That hurts! What's with this cord?"

"This is no mere cord. It is my Lash of Love!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Headmaster of this academy, Dire Crowley, appeared in front of the now stunned student! That cat creature had been captured by the Headmaster's weapon, its mouth bound by the tight grip of that whip. Ruggie could not believe his eyes.  _ "For once, the Headmaster was doing a responsible task! By himself!!" _

Ruggie continued watching as Crowley gave the injured student an earful as the creature struggled to get the binds off but to no avail. Not bothering to listen more of his rants, he observed how the student's posture was slouching. They were taking really slow, heavy breaths, their eyes heavy-lidded. It was likely they were not even paying attention to the Headmaster.

The Headmaster seemed to take the student's silence as a yes, and proceeded to usher them out of the infirmary. Ruggie quickly hid behind the door before he was spotted by anyone. 

_ "That's weird. Shouldn't Crowley be guiding the student to the doctor-s or something? Why is he leading them back-s to the Mirror Chamber? Unless-" _ Ruggie frowned as he leaned out from his hiding spot to look back at the student. There were some sparkles around that dark patch on the student, resembling a clock face with the second hand ticking away.

His eyes widened in shock before sending a deadpan look. _"I-is that a Time Freeze spell? Did he just cast-s a Time Freeze spell instead of first aid?! I take back whatever I said before-s. You're really something, Crowley."_ Ruggie shook his head as he started following them back to the Mirror Chamber."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed Ruggie has a 'su' in his sentences, it sounds like he's speaking with a dialect. So I thought to add that in when he speaks! :D


	3. Chapter Two: Oh No, The Solemnity Broke!

Chapter Two: Oh No, The Solemnity Broke!

Ren could not believe what she heard from this Crow-man. _"What did he say? That this is a magic school?"_

Ren scoffed inwardly. _"Please. I'd rather believe that I was kidnapped by some illegal cult group and that this abandoned theme park is their hideout. And I was chosen by a 'Gate'? What does that even mean?"_ All this nonsense was giving her a terrible headache. Yet how could she explain about Grim or the fire it produced? Or even... Sighing, she shook her head. She felt sluggish as she limped awkwardly through the courtyard with one shoulder higher than the other. She tried blinking away the blurriness from her eyes but to no avail. With Crow-man gently guiding her from behind, she could not walk away even if she wanted to.

She slowly rolled her shoulder, _"Well, at least he wasn't kidding about the 'magic' part. Whatever he did to my shoulder felt a bit better, but I'm still feeling faint. ...Need to rest, need to-"_

"Hey, there-s! Headmaster!"

We stopped in our tracks when a new voice came from behind us. Crow-man seemed to know this person, as he looked back in slight confusion. "Why, if it isn't Young Bucchi. Aren't you supposed to be together with Young Kingscholar?"

"Well. You aren't in the Mirror Chamber, so I came looking for you-s. What are you doing out here-s on your lonesome?"

Ren blinked. _"Interesting accent. Is it a local dialect? Or a lisp?"_ Feeling curious, she hobbled around and leaned out to peek from Crow-man's cape. The new voice belonged to a brown-haired boy with a relaxed expression, his arms folded behind his head. He was wearing a similar robe as hers, only his fit well on him. At the corner of her eye, she noticed his hood moved slightly from time to time. Could something be hiding in there? As she lifted hers to get a better view, she found a pair of grey eyes staring at her. 

_"What beautiful grey eyes. Not to mention the names Crow-man said sounded foreign. Interesting..."_ Ren tilted her head in wonder, momentarily forgetting that she was in a life-or-death situation.

'Bucchi' blinked before giving her a quick smile. He then diverted his attention to Crow-man. "What's this? Are you skipping-s your duties, sir? _Kishishishi_."

"How rude! I was simply guiding this student back to the ceremony. The poor boy was lost and escaped from the 'Gate' and even took refuge in the school infirmary." Crow-man cleared his throat before adjusting his waistcoat, like a bird ruffling its feathers in irritation. Ren scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. _"Boy?"_

"Oh! Is that so? My bad." Bucchi apologized, though there was no ounce of remorse in his tone. "Why don't I help-s you bringing the student in as well? He seems to be having trouble-s walking." Before she could react, the boy had already walked to her side and placed his hand around her waist. He was careful not to touch anywhere near the wound, his other hand grabbed hers and smiled, "Shall-s we go then?"

"My, how kind of you! Let us be off then!" Crow-man seemed very delighted despite having to restrain an agitated fire-rat. They continued their brisk walk through the courtyard and towards the long hallway. Bucchi was very gentle with Ren as he carefully guided her while she hobbled along with the grace of a tired duck. The brown-haired boy glanced back before slowly reaching for something in his robe sleeves and gave it to her.

"Drink this. It'll make you feel better-s." He whispered so softly Ren almost could not catch it. She looked down to see a small glass vial sealed with a cork, with a peculiar orange liquid in her hand. It looked almost like honey, sparkling with crystallized sugars swirling at the bottom.

Ren narrowed her eyes and whispered back, "How can I trust you? You weren't very honest with that Crow-man." She could not trust this boy yet, he may have other ulterior motives. _"If what he said to Crow-man were true, we should be seeing him in front of us, instead of the back. Not only that, but he also came from the direction of the infirmary. It would either meant he saw what had happened in there, or it was a coincidence. Though I doubt it."_

"Crow- _kishi_! That's a first, kiddo. I'm gonna remember that-s for later." The boy sniggered. "Look, I'm just trying to help. Whatever-s you did to that scar is none of my business. It's up to you if you wanna take my word-s for it."

"And you'd expect me to believe that this ' _magic'_ vial can cure my wound?" Ren did not attempt to hide the sarcasm in her voice, dangling the bottle in front of his face. Both of them had walked quite ahead from the Headmaster, enough to make hushed conversations.

His eye twitched in annoyance, "It won't go away instantly, but it'll at least ease the pain-s a little. So just drink-"

"Why go through all this trouble? Why not just send me to a hospital? I'm not fit to be attending some stupid ceremony or cult meeting you all so obsessed about!"

"S-stupid? Cult meeting?! What are you-" the boy looked away as he took in slow breaths. Clearly, she had struck a nerve. But she couldn't care less, this whole thing was ridiculous to her! He took a long sigh, "I know it doesn't make sense, but no one can stop-s Crowley once he decided on something. Once we're done with the ceremony, I promise I'll bring you straight to the doctor-s. No delays."

Ren glared intently at the boy. She wasn't even sure how she is still alive for this long. But it wasn't like there's any other choice, does it? Resigned, she flicked the cork off with a 'pop' and downed the vial in one gulp.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

"Is that all of the dorm arrangements for the new students?" A boy with red hair asked his fellow classmate beside him. His grey eyes scanned the premise, making sure nothing was out of place. The first-years were all wearing their formal ceremonial robes, and they have already been sorted to their respective dorms. Yes, everything was going as scheduled. Or so he thought.

His eyebrow twitched as he tapped his foot impatiently, fingers tapping on his crossed arms. The dorm leaders were standing on the Dark Mirror sides, three on its right, four on its left. They had already finished with the procedure, yet the Headmaster was nowhere to be found to give out his speech. _"This is clearly going against Night Raven Rule #44: Always be punctual for every occasion, or there'll be punishment for one's evasion."_

When his Vice-dorm leader nodded at his question, the boy cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of his first-years. "Listen up first-years. In Heartslabyul, I am the rule. Defy them, and it'll be off with your heads." 

The first-years shivered at his words, obviously making a mental note to themselves not to upset their soon-to-be dorm leader. 

_"It is a tradition for the Headmaster to be giving his speech before dismissing the students... But if we delay any further, we would be late for our Heartslabyul orientation, which will be in... 25 minutes and 46 seconds."_ The boy discreetly checked his pocket watch and signed inwardly.

A loud sigh broke the tense silence. "Finally, it's over. Let's get back to Savannaclaw. This stench is getting to me."

The red-haired boy looked to see the Savannaclaw dorm leader, Leona Kingscholar, was already getting ready to dismiss his group. He seemed to be more... irritated than usual? His eyebrows were furrowed, his tail was swishing and slashing violently. He even sniffed his nose every so often, sometimes covering it with his sleeve. Was he sick? Or did he smell something weird? Whatever it was, it wasn't his business to pry.

Leona could not spend another minute in this room. Even the beast-men cubs were affected by this wretched stench. Their tails were bristling, teeth and fists were clenched. The students from the other groups were spooked by this. For once, he envied the humans' dulled senses. He shook his head. He did not want to deal with this. All he wanted was to catch up on his sleep once he returned to his dorm. He was about to walk away before someone grabbed his arm and held him back.

Leona turned around to snarl at whoever dared to touch him. Yet the bespectacled boy remained poised, ignoring the werelion's growls. Though upon closer inspection, his smile looked slightly strained and had Leona's arm in a tight grip. The werelion smirked. _"Heh. Guess the octopus bastard can't handle this stench too."_

The bespectacled dorm leader smiled as he announced his speech, "Congratulations on your enrollment to this academy, students! As dorm leader of Octovinelle, I will support you all with the best of my abilities. Please relax and enjoy your life to the fullest."

"By the way, have you seen where the Headmaster went? He just flew right out in the middle of the ceremony." The blonde boy with purple highlights tucked his hair behind his ear while checking his nails.

[Heh. Abandoning duties, I bet.] The blonde looked up to see a floating blue tablet, with the Ignihyde emblem displayed on the screen.

"Hmm... Maybe he got a bad stomachache and had to go?" Lastly, the white-haired boy asked curiously, his head tilted in confusion with hands on his hips.

BANG

"No, I did not!"

And there he was. The doors were slammed open to reveal Headmaster Crowley, walking towards the Dark Mirror elegantly as if he did not ditch an entire group of students. 

The red-haired boy blinked, "Oh, he's back." He noticed something was struggling in Crowley's clutches, gnawing and clawing the cord bound to its body and mouth. A raccoon?

The Headmaster sighed, "Goodness. For all of you to think so lowly of me. We happened to have a wayward student, so I went to fetch him, of course. Come now, you are the only one that has yet assigned to a dorm. I will watch over the raccoon, no need to worry. Please step in front of the Mirror, child."

That got the attention of all the dorm leaders. _"We missed a student?"_

They all turned back to the entrance doors, with the blue tablet floating higher to get a better look. Crowley stepped aside to reveal a student donned in his ceremonial robes leaning against Ruggie as they walked towards the Mirror. Though he looked more of a child wearing oversized curtains. The student had to scoop the front of his robe as he hobbled, his head pressed against Ruggie's waistline. All shared the same thought as they stared at the new student; _"He's so tiny..."_

The red-haired boy noticed Ruggie was whispering something to the new student, the latter then straightened his back and gave a firm nod. Ruggie then gave him a gentle push as he walked- limped to the Mirror. Once he stepped on the platform, green flames burst in the Mirror to reveal a masquerade mask with a solemn expression. The new student flinched when it appeared, visibly spooked as he took a step back, his hand clutching the other close to his chest.

" **State thy name, child.** " The Dark Mirror's grave and deep voice resonated with the entire chamber. Ther other students could feel goosebumps prickling their skin when the Mirror spoke.

The new student paused for a moment before slowly inching closer to the Mirror. As if not believing it was real, he stared at the Mirror as he reached to poke at it a few times. Somewhere at the back, you could hear a snort from the first-years.

" **...It is rude to poke, child.** "

"S-sorry, sir..." The new student bowed to the Mirror apologetically, though it did not avoid the hushed snickering amongst the crowd. The red-haired boy frowned, it was as if this student had no idea what the Dark Mirror was.

The Mirror cleared its throat and repeated, " **State thy name, child.** "

The new student took a deep breath before answering softly, "...Ren ...Just Ren."

The Mirror then nodded. " **Very well, Just Ren...** "

More giggles ensued.

" **The shape of thy soul is... Hmm?** " The Mirror was furrowing its nonexistent eyebrows before widening its eyes. " **... I do not know.** "

There was a moment of stunned silence until Crowley broke it. "C-come again?"

" **I sense ancient magic sealed within this child. However, at this moment, there is not even an inkling of magic present. Henceforth, this child is not suitable for any dormitory in this academy.** " The red-haired boy could not believe it. It was the first time for the Mirror to look slightly distraught. Shocked gasps accompanied by hushed murmurs filled the chamber.

Crowley: "Ah, this is unimaginable! There has never been an incident where the Ebony Carriage would bring a non-magic user, let alone one with a sealed curse! Not in my years as Headmaster, not in 100 years in Night Raven! How could this happen?"

The new student, on the other hand, looked equally confused. He turned to the Headmaster, who was having an internal breakdown. He glanced at the crowd and back to Ruggie, who shrugged his arms exasperatedly.

"Pah! Then, let me take his place!"

The red-haired boy froze and swerved back to see the cat(?) creature running up to the platform, attempting to push the new student off but to no avail.

The new student hollered to get the Headmaster's attention. "Sir! Fire-rat's on the loose!"

"Ah!"

"Unlike this weak human, I have loads of magic! I'm obviously the better choice y'know. Let me be in school instead! Allow me, the Great Grim, show you all how it's done!"

The red-haired boy could feel the ground vibrating before crouching down, "Everyone, get down!"

FWOOSH

The creature released a surge of blue flames across the room. The force pushed the new student off the platform, and before he could touch the ground, a large body swept him away and pounced away from the blue embers.

Leona clicked his tongue as he looked back at the chaos that ensued. The first-years were panicking, running around like headless chickens. He then spotted Kalim, who was running around with his rear on fire. The Scarabia Vice-dorm leader was standing on the sidelines with some of the first-years, staring at his frantic leader, bewildered. The idiot looked as if he's wasn't sure to help him or to let him be.

He gave the running flaming boy one last look before looking down at the small bundle in his arms. _"So, this is the source of that wretched stench."_


	4. Chapter Three: Bitter Outburst!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ren... She can't take a break xDD
> 
> So from this chapter onwards, it's gonna divert from the canon story bit by bit. Enjoy~~!

Prologue

Chapter Three: Bitter Outburst!

"Ouch ouch ouch! My butt's on fire!"

"...Heh."

"Jamil, it's not funny! It really hurts!! Put my butt out, please!" Kalim looked back to see his Vice dorm leader standing in front of a group of first-years, his Magical Pen already whipped out from his sleeves. He even cast a water barrier spell as a shield, protecting them from the blue embers.

Jamil, on the other hand, closed his eyes to not see the flaming monkey jumping up and down, doing a tribal dance of sorts. It took every fiber of his muscles to not straight up howled in laughter. Instead, he hummed as he contemplated with his finger on his chin, "I guess I can... but that would mean risking the safety of our first-years from the fire. Hmm... this is troubling, which should I choose?"

Kalim gasped. "You're right! Alright, you stay with the first-years Jamil. I'll find someone else to put my butt out!" Before Jamil could add anything, he had already run the other direction to get help.

"Yes, yes... Do hurry. I'm not prepared to treat a roasted rear on my plate..." Jamil had to look away, his whole body trembling as he stifled his laughter in his sleeve. The first-years behind him looked at their soon-to-be Vice dorm leader before glancing at each other weirdly.

Crowley looked left and right in dismay. The Mirror Chamber was a mess, all thanks to that monstrous raccoon. It kept blowing its blue fires haphazardly, the ground was littered with fire patches, the once velvety curtains already burnt at the seams. Even the chandelier above was in flames. He shook his head. This cannot go further! "At this rate, the school will be in a sea of flames! Somebody catch that raccoon!"

"Headmaster Crowley, please leave it to me!" Crowley turned to see the bespectacled dorm leader, his hand placed on his chest with a flourish. "Since the rest couldn't stomach of capturing the poor creature, I shall take it upon myself!"

[As expected of Azul-shi. Always eager to earn EXP points. Yippee-ki-yay-Whoa!] The tablet exclaimed as it swerved away from a blast of flames. [Hey! Watch the tablet!]

"Hey! Can someone please put out my butt fire already?!" The flaming rear boy ran passed them to get their attention, but no one paid him any mind.

Crowley whipped his pen and narrowly avoided the incoming barrage of fireballs in a fluid motion. "Are you all even listening to me, everyone?!! If you don't catch it sooner, we'll all be flambe!"

"Aren't you the one who brought him here in the first place? Perhaps you should be catching it, Professor." The pretty blonde pulled his hood further as an attempt to protect his luscious hair from singeing.

"I. Am. Not. A. Raccoon!!! Stop making me repeat myself!!" Grim angrily stomped his foot, not at all bothered nor affected from his previous onslaught. "This Great Grim will become the greatest magician this school has ever seen!"

"Hmm... A creature with a strong will to boot. Care to assist me, Riddle?" Azul crossed his arms as the red-haired boy stood beside him, their Magical pens at their side.

"I cannot overlook any rule-breakers, let alone an intruder and an arsonist. Let's hurry and get this over and done with." Riddle was about to follow Azul in the fire-raccoon chase, but he paused in his tracks before sighing. He turned around and cast his magic with a flick of a pen, a splash of water finally extinguished that pair of flaming cheeks.

"Phew! Thanks, Riddle!" 

Riddle looked away as the white-haired boy beamed at him, adjusting his hood before resuming the "Capture The Fire-rat" mission.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

_"Everyone, run away!" Where am I...? A burning house? W-why can't I move? Am I stuck?_

_"It's too late! The fire is too big to put out!" Wait! I'm still here!! Why can't I feel my legs??!_

_COUGH COUGH_

_There's so much smoke... my lungs are hurting... I-I can't breathe..._

_COUGH COUGH COUGH_

_"Wait! My Lil' girl is still in there! You have to get her out!"_

_"Sir, please step away from the area!"_

_That's...!_

_"Pa! Where are you?! I'm in here!"_

_CRACKLE CRACKLE_

_That sound... The beams are collapsing!!!!_

_"PAAA!!!!"_

Unwanted painful memories kept replaying in Ren's head as she watched the blue flames licking the grounds in horror. She could feel her whole body trembling in place, she could not feel her hands or legs. _"I-I can't move! I'm gonna be burned!! Move dammit! MOVE!! MOVEMOVEMOVE--"_

Suddenly, a hand covered her eyes and moved her head away. The detective froze and tried yanking the hand away, but her captor had a firm grip. She immediately tried to wrestle herself free from her captor, not caring that her reckless punching and slapping and kicking would agitate her wound further. Ren didn't realize she was acting hysterical, whimpering, and gasping in utter panic. She didn't even care if this stranger saw her breaking. At that moment, she could only think of getting away from the fire... 

Away from the noise...

_I... I can't breathe... My head is killing me... My vision is... blackening... it's getting darker..._

"...Hey, herbivore."

Ren snapped up to that deep voice from above and found a pair of emerald orbs staring at her intensely. It took her a while to realize this was her captor, his large hands no longer covering her eyes, and held her by the shoulders firmly. As she gazed into the green eyes, she could feel the dread sensation within her drifting away. Her hands no longer slapping the person, now grasping his sleeves tightly. She was hyperventilating before, but now she was taking slow yet big breaths as an attempt to calm herself. It was weird. Looking- no, outright staring at this stranger could make her feel... safe? Protected? 

"Just breathe, alright?" The stranger frowned as he gently thumbed an area near her eyes. Strange... Was she crying? She shakily reached for her face, fingers brushing against her wet cheeks.

Out of instinct, tears flowed down non-stop like a waterfall. Was it out of sadness? Or relief? Ren couldn't bring herself to care, slowly leaning forward, her forehead against the man's shirt. It was too much for her, she didn't care if he saw her breaking down. Her trembling hands clenched on his robes as she quietly sobbed, mouth gaping yet no voice came out.

Leona's ears twitched, picking up the small student's gasps. Now that he's much closer, the pungent stench of blood irritated his nose. This first-year dared to look at him in the eye and use his robes as a towel. Yet he could not bring himself to just throw this impudent first-year away. Instead, he found himself closing the distance, placing his hand on the petite student's head protectively.

"Leona!"

His ears perked up before glancing up to see his Vice dorm leader(?), swiftly dodging the flames and rushing towards them. 

"How's he doing?" Leona blinked. Interesting. Ruggie usually does not sound this troubled, though he didn't comment about it.

"Kid's here got a crackup. Something 'bout those fires must've spooked him." Leona furrowed his eyebrows as he processed his sentence, fingers unconsciously running through the kid's head. _"He? Him? Is he really? But why do I not want to let him go?"_

"L-Leona? Look... take a look-s at this."

His eyes darted back to Ruggie, whose face was looking pale as he shakily pointed his finger at the small first-year. The first-year's ceremonial robe looked terrible, the long sleeves and gown already charred black. Though upon a closer look, there was a small tear on his back. Where the blood odor was seeping out from. His eyes followed as Ruggie slowly pulled the cloth open to reveal something glinting through the folds.

The werelion and werehyena looked at each other in appalled silence. T-this is...

"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!"

Their heads snapped back, in time to watch the Heartslabyul dorm leader casting his Unique Magic on that runaway raccoon. A ring of red sparkles appeared around the creature's neck before producing a heart-shaped collar with a click.

"Ack! What is this???" Grim tried to yank the collar off but to no avail. Not even its claws made a single scratch on it.

"Queen of Hearts' Laws #23: One should never bring a cat to a function. You being a cat means you have broken that rule. I must have you leave the premise at once." The red-haired boy crossed his arms, looking rather proud of his handiwork.

"I'm not a cat! I, Great Grim, will use my awesome fire and...! H-huh? My fire magic isn't coming out! What did you do?!"

Just then, Ren slowly tilted her head towards the commotion. She wasn't fully recovered from her breakdown, her body still a trembling mess, head still throbbing. Her teary eyes spotted Grim kept on blowing its fire, yet only thin plumes of smoke came out instead. 

The boy lifted his chin and looked down in disdain, "Hmph! You won't be using any magic unless I remove the collar. Without magic, you're just an ordinary stray cat."

"Wh-what?! I'm not some pet!!!" the creature began stomping on its feet, with its fangs clenched. 

Ren blinked wearily, noticing the chamber was no longer burning, leaving small blue embers on the ground. She slowly clenched in and out her hands and slowly shuffled her feet, gaining a bit of strength.

"Don't worry. I would never keep a rambunctious pet like you. I'll take it off of you once you're thrown out." The small- no, average-sized dorm leader sneered as he grabbed the handle attached to the collar from behind Grim's neck.

"Ahh~ As flawless as ever, Riddle. With your Unique Magic, you can seal off all kinds of magic. I want it so badly... Ah, not on me, of course." The bespectacled dorm leader corrected himself before Riddle could even react.

"You! Do something about this mess!"

Ren flinched at the loud voice coming closer. Her eyes opened to see the Headmaster, already grabbed the creature from Riddle in one hand, the other holding his whip. 

"Isn't this monster your familiar?!" Crowley yelled as he dangled Grim in front of her like a plushie.

_"Noisy..."_ Her head hurts, it's banging drums on her scalp. Crow-man's fuming voice wasn't helping either. She slowly adjusted her position as an attempt to hoist herself up, trying up to minimize the pain a bit. She could feel someone behind her gently grabbed her forearms to support her weight. Maybe it was Bucchi?

Grim yelped from dangling uselessly from the collar, the rims digging into its neck. "Hey! I'm not his-"

"SILENCE!!!!" Grim flinched from the Crow-man's outburst, its ears flattened with the flames diminishing, its tail drooped between the legs as it let out a soft whimper.

"..." Her eyebrow twitched in irritation. She clenched her perfectly fine fist as she finally got back on her feet. She could tell the stranger who saved her was looking at her wide-eyed, but she couldn't bring herself to care at that moment. While pressing her injured arm close to her chest, her back straightened as she slowly turned to face the furious Crow-man, the black feathers on his shoulders bristling in anger.

"As its owner, you should take responsibility for this matter!" Crowley huffed, "Properly discipline--!"

"WITH! All due respect, sir!" Ren cut him off with a shout, she has had it with this idiocy. With _his_ idiocy. "I think we have a more _'DIRE'_ problem than that fire-rat."

All of a sudden, the chamber went quiet. No one dared to say a word. The students watched with bated breaths as this new student dared to talk back. To the Headmaster himself! The other teachers, for their part, couldn't stop their lips quirking slightly, impressed with this student's outburst.

It was Crowley's turn to be baffled. "We... we do?"

Ren scoffed mirthlessly, "As you may have realized, yes." Feeling frustrated, she reached behind and tore off her robe, revealing the broken blade caked in blood embedded in her shoulder for all to see. 

She ignored the scandalized gasps as she continued her rant, tone sounding awfully giddy. "In case you're wondering, yes! There's a blade in my shoulder. I'm losing a lot of blood as we speak. I'm going to die!" 

For every step she took forward had the Headmaster stepping back. Even Grim looked spooked at the insane expression Ren was wearing. "I should be in the hospital by now, but NOOOO! The entrance ceremony is far more important than a student's well-being! Though having a dead one would ruin this academy's reputation now, would it?!" 

"Erm... hey, Ren-kun... J-just calm down, alright-s?" Ren had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. But she was not going to blow at Bucchi. 

"Oh, I am calm, Bucchi. I'm calm as a dead corpse." She needed him to see the doctor, at least he promised her that. The only one at fault was the Headmaster, only him.

Ren closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, already finished with her explosion of words. Feeling exasperated and grumpy, she looked back to the stupefied Headmaster as calm as possible. "So... why don't we wrap this up, get the students back to their dorms, be a better Headmaster..." Crowley internally winced at that jab. "And get me a doctor." 

When no one was moving an inch, Ren gave the scariest glare. "NOOWWW!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I had a little too much fun with Ren's eruption of anger xDD
> 
> She just wants a doctor...
> 
> Oh yeah, I just remembered a really bad joke. Here goes:  
> "Have you ever heard of Dire Crowley? It's like Crowley, but dire~~"
> 
> 'Kay, Imma leave now.


	5. Chapter Four: Bitter Outburst Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is gonna be a bit dialogue heavy. And it's gonna be focusing on Ren's perspective. And maybe a few special appearances. Enjoy~~!

Prologue  
Chapter Four: Bitter Outburst Aftermath

DRIP

"Um... right! That's precisely what I was about to say, yes! Now, could all the dorm leaders please lead the new students back to your respective dormitories?" Crow-man regained some composure before giving out his orders to the students. The first-years slowly but surely snapped back to reality. They quickly followed their respective leaders, not wanting to stay in the Mirror Chamber any longer.

DRIP DRIP

"That reminds me, it appears that Young Draconia, leader of Diasonmia, isn't present tonight." The Headmaster looked left and right before turning to the remaining dorm leaders, "Did any of you remind him regarding the ceremony?"

Un. Believable. Ren had spent whatever was left of her energy on that outburst, but it seemed that Crow-man was not phased at all. Taking his old sweet time asking irrelevant questions. Obviously, he was looking everywhere and anywhere, not me. _"Either he had committed murder... Or... he's just a really forgetful idiot."_ Ren mentally agreed with the latter.

DRIP DRIP SPLAT

"...Hey, Crow-man. He's not looking too good..." Her eyes spotted Grim, still cuffed in his clutches, looking at her with an almost unreadable expression. Was that... concern?

_"I suppose that's better than nothing... Well... Guess I'll drop dead then."_ Her vision was getting blurry, seeing doubles from time to time. She could feel her body swaying, no longer in control of her movements. 

_"When I come back as a ghost, I'm gonna haunt you Crow-man. With a punch as my thanks."_ With that, Ren, the detective, closed her eyes and let gravity dragged her body into darkness.

"H-hey, Ren-kun! Hang in there-s!" _W-what? I'm seeing these really blurry blobs... One taller than the other, and they're talking. I guess they're angels? They must be. They have these ethereal light glowing around them. Wow, I'm heading to the afterlife quite fast._

"Do not fret, Ruggie. For panic solves nothing-ja. How is the child faring-ja?"

"N-not good... His body is feeling really-s cold." _...Apparently, angels can't even tell the difference. Doesn't matter anyway._

"Honestly, Headmaster. It would seem your common sense of human lifespans have been misplaced-ja." _Huh. Didn't know heaven has these old-sounding angels. To each to its own, I guess._

The old-sounding angel(?) chuckled before turning his attention to another blob behind him. "Silver, be a dear and guide our students back to Diasomnia. I am slightly intrigued by the child-ja." _Are you referring to me? Please, nothing is intriguing about me. I'm just a dying human, a mere mortal with a stupid death. Or a funny one, if you think about it. Ugh, I'm rambling again..._

"Ren-kun. Now's not the time-s for jokes!" The angel blob that was holding her up tightened his grip. She suddenly felt herself being lifted up, her head leaning against the angel blob. _Gosh... this feels so warm... I think I'm drifting a bit..._

"Careful around the wound, Ruggie... ...We need to..." Wait- what are they saying? _The voices are breaking apart... the colors are blending- melting together..._

"Anyone here... Head doctor?...."

" ...not around?! Where..." 

"...I can help! ...equipped with... ...help in an emergency!"

" ...too much pressure!... ...not gonna happen!!...."

" ...that creature out... ...ever so gracious..." 

_I don't even know what they're all saying. So many voices talking all at once... the blobs are increasing, crowding me... it hurts... everywhere hurts..._ Giving in to the pain, Ren let her conscious drift back into darkness.

*

**

***

Darkness swirled around her. Ren could herself floating, letting the black blobs twirl her deadweight body as she stared into the distance. Just then, she heard muffled voices from the back. Ren turned her body around with effort and swam towards the source, like pushing through endless rows of heavy black coats.

Slowly, her surroundings changed into what looked like a living room. Specifically, it was as if she was walking in a living room sketch on old yellowed paper. Ren's eyes widened as she looked around. The worn-out couch at the side, the washed-out walls decorated with drawings and photo frames, a small television in front of a coffee table, stacks of cardboard boxes surrounding the area. Plus, that pair of familiar dark silhouettes occupying that said couch had cemented her thought. This was her house. Back when she was a child. They had just moved into the area, and Lil' Ren was excited to explore the neighborhood before her pa stopped her.

_"Remember this, Ren,"_ She recalled pa warning her, _"Whoever ya talkin' to those kids or adults out there, never reveal yer family name. Got it?"_

_"Why's that, pa?"_

_"We don't want many people knowing who we are, hatchling. We can get in trouble, ye know."_

_"But our papers already have our family name, pa. They'll know it sooner or later. What's there to hide when it's already in black and white?"_

_"Heh. Ye use big words for a little girl, really made me proud."_

_"...! That's not the point, pa! I'm just saying-"_

_"This is this, and that is that. It's just to ease my worries a bit. Can ya do that for me, girl?"_

It was a strange request, but Lil' Ren nodded her head. She even pinky promised with him, her little finger linked with his rough one before connecting their thumbs together. Seeing her father's face softened with a gentle expression made Lil' Ren very happy.

Ren could feel herself frowning as she watched the father-and-daughter shadows hugging. She remembered that promise, even as of now, she didn't fully understand why her father would make her promise that. One would think of it as an extra precaution from a parent to a child. Yet, her father would remind her from time to time, even she was already a grown adult.

_Why am I remembering all this now...?_

"Hey, human. You awake?"

_That voice...!_

Ren's eyes flung open to see white. A white ceiling, to be exact. As she slowly refocused her blurry surroundings, she took in deep breaths while straining her ears to get a better idea of where she was. An old habit she developed herself while working as a detective. The faint scent of disinfectant and soap, the soft sunlight shining through glass windows (not including the broken ones), the cheery chirps of early birds. She blinked. This was the infirmary, the same one from last night. If she raised her head a bit and squinted, she could still see the faint burnt marks on the ground. She also realized her robes and clothes were replaced to patient scrubs, all cleaned and folded on that drawer.

"Ah. You are awake-ja."

Her head snapped to her right to see a boy holding a washbasin with a cloth. Ren blinked as she took in his appearance, _"He looked to be around 160cm. Black short hair with magenta highlights. Crimson eyes. I guess that's his uniform... though it looked a bit big on him. Eh, who am I to judge? Is he the nurse here?"_

"...Who are you?" Ren tried to speak, but her voice sounded hoarse.

"Ah, of course. We haven't had the pleasure of introductions-ja." He smiled as he put the basin down on the drawer beside her. He then dipped the cloth in before dapping gently on her forehead. "I am known as Lilia Vanrouge. You gave us quite a performance last night-ja."

"Last night?" She tried moving her limbs before looking down in shock to see her left arm in a sling. Soon, the events from last night hit her in the blink of an eye. "W-wait. You're telling me that all of that happened? It's not a dream?? There was a fire-rat???"

Ren then remembered the most important thing. "I almost died???!"

Lilia had to press his lips together to seal off any laughs spilling out. Seeing the child looking so distraught while reciting their thoughts were very endearing. "Yes, you were almost on death's door-ja. Anything else you remember?"

The child looked at him weirdly before resuming her endless train of thoughts. Lilia gently helped them to sit up as their face lit up. "Ah! There's a boy with brown hair, grey eyes. Think his name is Bucchi? Is he alright? Is he hurt?"

"Ah, you mean Ruggie Bucchi. He's unharmed-ja. On the contrary, he just left a while ago. He even left you some food-ja." The child followed his gesture to see a decent-sized wrapped sandwich on top of her folded clothes.

They exhaled in relief. "Oh, that's good. He shouldn't have."

"Do you not remember getting stabbed-ja?" 

The child looked at him in disbelief for a moment before their eyes widened in recognition. They went silent for a while, looking down at their scrubs.

"...You're right. I was stabbed." Their hand reached behind, gently caressing her left shoulder. Lilia wondered if they were about to have a breakdown.

"I was stabbed," they repeated. "He's out there!"

What?

Before he knew it, the child removed the blanket and started inching themselves out of bed. With little progress as the child had to lean against their right arm for support while wincing at the pain from such erratic movements.

Lilia raised his eyebrow as he crossed his arms. "Child, what are you doing-ja?" 

"Getting up."

"Obviously-ja. Why are you doing so?"

"What does it look like? I can't stay here. I have to go back." He sensed a little irritation from them. He hummed as he continued watching the struggle of getting out of bed one-armed.

"Care to elaborate on that matter-ja?"

The child froze for a moment before turning back to him. "...You wouldn't believe me."

"Hehe. And I have heard the most bizarre and gruesome tales in my time, I believe I can handle it. Besides, I am certain they all deserved to hear it as well-ja."

"Who?"

Just then, the large double doors burst open, revealing a group of people. In the center of the group was the Headmaster himself, walking as elegant as ever. Ren raised her eyebrow, obviously not impressed. She then noticed the other people behind them. On the Headmaster's left stood a man with a thick black-and-white striped furry coat. _"Even his clothes and hair correspond to his coat. And... that's a pointer with a dog collar on it?"_

On his right stood a tall boy and a short one in different shades of blue. The tall boy was wearing a blue hoodie coat, perhaps his uniform. The short one, on the other hand, looked like he was wearing a plated bodysuit. One made out of polyester. Both shared similar traits; fair skin, yellow eyes, and blue-flaming hair. _"Oh yeah. I'm in a magic world, alright."_

"Hi there!" Ren flinched as the small boy flew towards her suddenly that she had to lean back a bit. She could even see the sparkles in his eyes.

"I'm Ortho! And this is my brother Idia." She tilted her head to see Idia trying really hard not to get noticed, but failing. "We patched you up!" She widened her eyes at that. _"A kid patched me up?"_

"T-thank you-"

"I'm so excited about all this! This is my first time using my Precision Gear on a person, and the operation worked perfectly! And it was such a huge scar! I can't imagine what endeavors you had to go through to get that..." She cut off the boy's excited babbles as her face paled in realization. _"A kid operated on me???!!! Without a doctor's license!"_

"Ah~ It's so good to see you with such energy. Relieved, I say." Ren snapped back to reality and narrowed her eyes when Crowley was beaming behind his mask.

Suddenly, a gloved hand grabbed her face by the chin, and she was now facing the black-and-white man with a calculative stare. He hummed as he inspected her face, "Soft brown hair... Such beautiful eyes... they shine with such passion..." He angled to the left. "Brown... no, honey-colored. And they burn brighter in the sunlight..." Ren winced when the light hit her eyes, blinking rapidly. The man then looked pleased and released his hold, "Yes... I can work something with this. As long as you be a good pup and stay in bed, you're in good hands."

_"Excuse me, WHAT??!"_ Ren slowly inched away from the man, leaning closer to Ortho while the man only gave an amused expression.

"You have nothing to worry, puppy. This master Crewel will make you the most gorgeous outfits you've never seen before! I can even start a female line while I'm at it!" 'Master Crewel' reassured her, though she was not sure whether to feel grateful or uncomfortable.

"F-female...?"

Soon, everyone except for Ortho and Crewel stared at her in shock. Even Lilia looked surprised. 

_"Oh... right. They still think I'm a boy... pfft!"_ She had to look away, hiding the ever-growing smile with a hand. Ren gave an amused look before clearing her throat. "You're right, Vanrouge. They all do deserve a story. And boy, do I have a tale to tell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, they realised Ren's a girl!!! Well, some of them 😂😂😂
> 
> Edit (2020-10-05): the more I watch/listen to Lilia, the more I realised he always ends his sentences with 'ja'. And I'm like 🤯🤯🤯 MIND BLOWN
> 
> So... While updating the next chapter (Chapter 7: chapter 6), I'm just gonna clean up Lilia's dialogue 😅


	6. Chapter Five: A Reason To Live, Reluctant to Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Finished two of my assignments, one more to go! xDD
> 
> Also, thank you with your sweet comments! I'm very happy that you like this story :D
> 
> Will try my best to continue this during my free time!
> 
> Oh yeah, someone mentioned about what Ren looks like. If you want, I can add a small sketch of her. Just let me know! :D
> 
> In the meantime, enjoy this chapter~~!

Prologue

Chapter Five: A Reason To Live, Reluctant to Stay

"S-so... Correct me if I'm wrong, Young Ren." The Headmaster placed his clawed finger on his chin, trying to process what the small boy- _lady._ What the young lady had just told them. He also noticed she looked rather feminine, with her round cheeks and soft features. Though she could probably pull off as a young boy in male garb. Her shoulder-length hair was tied in a half ponytail style, the tufts of her hair naturally shaped like a flower. _"If anything, it made her look adorable- oh dear, how careless of me. Almost got carried away with my thoughts..."_

He closed his eyes with a quick clearing of his throat, "You're saying that you are not just a young girl, but a working adult..."

"Yes...?" Ren slowly nodded while receiving a warm cup of tea from Ortho. Her eyebrows furrowed, wondering where this was going.

"A detective, from a magicless world-ja, got injured during a mission of sorts..." Lilia continued, with his smile growing wide. _"My intuitions are right as always. This child is very intriguing."_

"Uh-huh..." Ren's eyes darted back and forth, lips slightly quivering and her shoulders trembling. She tried to even her breathing, for one wrong move, and she could reopen her wound.

"...t-thrown out of a 35-floor building, nearing d-death..." Idia timidly added, though his eyes were sparkling with admiration. _"She's like a badass female character in a noir game! I think they're a bit overrated, but listening to their stories up close... it's totally different!"_

Ren gingerly blew her cup, careful not to spill any contents. The honey lemon tea tasted refreshing and sweet, warming her body. She nodded once again with a raise of her eyebrow.

"...and was transported to our academy," Crewel concluded. _"She doesn't look much, yet she speaks like an adult."_

There was a long stretch of silence in the infirmary. Well, except for the loud slurping coming from Ren as she drank her cup of tea. 

"Cool... That's so cool!!!" Ortho, which Ren just learned the kid was not any ordinary kid but a robot kid, exclaimed with sparkling eyes. "You're like a superhero! Like the main character in Star Rogue!!! Don't you think so, brother?!"

"Um... I think she's more of the Star Rogue's first mate, but yeah. I guess she's... kinda cool. Probably. I'm not sure." Idia looked away as he shyly pulled his hood on his head further down, covering his eyes. _"Gosh... this is so embarrassing. It'd be a bit better if I'm talking to a boy..."_

Ortho turned back to see his brother's face covered by his hood, the ends of his flaming blue hair turning a little pink. "Brother? Are you feeling alright?"

"My, this is a very riveting tale indeed-ja." Lilia chuckled. "Certainly one of a kind. I had chills down my spine when you saved your colleague-ja."

"Yet you give no such reaction, Vanrouge. Gotta say I'm a little disappointed. I'll take that as you don't believe me." Ren narrowed her eyes at him. He merely laughed it off with a wave of his hand.

"Oh, come now. I do believe you-ja. We are the ones who saved you from the brink of death, after all. Only a fool would deny your tale when it makes the most sense-ja." Ren paused at that, staring at the smiling boy(?) before taking a second sip-

"OHHHH HOOH HOOH--!!!" Crowley suddenly cried out as big comedic tears burst out from his eyes. Ren jerked forward to avoid spewing her tea at the group, while they recoiled from his fountain of tears. She choked a bit as she put down her cup, with Ortho floating closer to give a gentle pat on her back.

"Crowley! What was that all about?!" Crewel huffed as he adjusted his furry coat, checking if there were any tears on it.

"I am now overwhelmed with such raw emotion!" Crowley dramatically pulled out his handkerchief from his breast pocket and gave a loud sneeze. "To think our poor student had to experience such a terrible ordeal and had endured such a terrifying scar... What a tale! Simply thrilling, and heart-clenching!"

Recovered from her choking, Ren snapped back to the Headmaster at that. "What are you talking about, sir?"

"Hmm?" The Headmaster paused his dramatic cry before carefully wiped his tears with a clawed finger. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Haven't you hear anything about what I just said? I'm not a student here! I'm a full-grown working adult!" Ren turned to the others, hoping that they could see what she was implying. "I cannot stay here either. There is a criminal on the loose, and it's my job to arrest him before he hurts anyone!"

"Oh... great, she's one of those 'Main Protagonist Sacrifice' trope." Everyone looked at Idia, who rolled his eyes at Ren. "If what you said is true, then you have nothing to worry about. You said there were other officers as well, right? They can handle him."

Ren's eyes widened as she shook her head, "N-no, no, no... you do not understand. This criminal is no run-of-the-mill thief. He's a burglar, an arsonist, and he almost hurt one of my officers. This means he is prone to violence, and he can hurt innocent civilians while on the run!"

By right, she should not be revealing such sensitive information to them. But she was already feeling desperate. If it meant she could return to her duties, she would give as much help as she could. 

"Oh no, you mustn't, Young Ren!" The Headmaster exclaimed. "You've only just recovered, and you are obviously in no position to be chasing after pyromaniacs!"

Lilia suddenly cut in, "And what would you do once you've returned, pray tell?"

"H-huh?" She turned to the boy(?) in green, shocked at his words.

"You won't be able to do anything with that broken arm of yours-ja. It'll be a fool's errand. You are now weak and helpless, and you'll only be more of a burden to your officers-ja." Lilia continued with hands on his hips, not caring that his words were stabbing her hopes one at a time.

Anger flashed in her eyes. "But I cannot just sit here and do nothing! They can't even restrain him. It took a whole squad to hold him down, but he managed to shake them off!! And you're telling me not to worry, not to do anything??!"

Lilia narrowed his eyes while giving an evil smirk. "No matter how old you claim to be, you are as impatient as a child. No, more like a baby with a temper tantrum-ja. If you cannot maintain your composure, then you should forget about being a detective, _detective_."

Now it was Ren's turn to be stunned, eyes widening at every word. She looked away while gripping the sheets tightly. She wanted to argue, to deny every accusation this person was spewing, but she couldn't. Because he was right. No matter how you look at it, she would be a liability and would cause more trouble than help. 

Ortho looked at Lilia and back at Ren with concern. "Ren-san, your heart rate is elevating faster than normal. Are you feeling alright?"

_"He's right. I know he's right. I should be recovering. I should not be a liability to them! But... But...!"_

When the old-sounding boy(?) saw how quiet she had become, he sighed. "Honestly, as a detective, you would think you have the insight of one in this situation. Yet you are blinded by your vengeance and sense of justice for one mortal-ja." 

Lilia came closer to sit on the right side of the bed, his voice having a gentle tone. "Have faith in your officers, child. If a squad couldn't bring him down, they would bring a battalion by then. You should focus on your recovery in the meantime."

Ren furrowed her eyebrows before closing her eyes in resignment. _"As much as I don't want to stay, I don't want to waste their efforts on me either. They were, after all, the people who saved me. Gave me another chance to live."_

She cleared her throat to get their attention, "I'm sorry for acting rashly earlier. If it weren't for you all, I'd probably be dead already." 

Yes, she could have died and forever lost her chance of returning back home. "I shouldn't have vented my anger at you. Thank you for saving me... and I'm sorry." Ignoring the pain, Ren slowly leaned down till she was giving a full 90 degrees bow to her saviors.

They, on the other hand, were astonished by her action. The teachers and students were not expecting this and had various reactions to it. Crewel was looking impressed. _"A pup with manners... such a rarity in this school."_

Lilia relaxed and gave a smile, a genuine smile. "Now that's a good girl-ja."

"Yeah, yeah..." Ren slowly pushed herself up with Ortho's help.

"I'll stay... on one condition." She pointed out a finger, aimed at the Headmaster. "And that is..."

*

**

***

After she had told her condition to the Headmaster, Ren looked back at the group. And needless to say, they were anything but pleased with it. The black-and-white teacher was pinching the bridge between his nose. The Shroud brothers were expressing different levels of concern, the younger of the two kept staring at the wall with such intensity, several blue screens flying around him in circles. He said he was going through a simulation in his head to find out the probability of her survival. Whatever that meant, it must have been serious. Considering he kept repeating the process. The older one, on the other hand, kept avoiding her gaze. He did not talk much, but she could tell he was annoyed with her decision. What with all his low grumbling and mumbling further proved her point.

As for Vanrouge... well, he did not say anything to her. He merely gave a sad smile, said that he would respect her choice. Wishing to lighten up the mood, she tried changing the subject. "So... where am I staying?"

That snapped them out of their sulk. 

The Headmaster tilted his head side to side. "Where will you be... wouldn't it be in the infirmary- ouch!" 

"Do not be daft, Crowley. An infirmary is a place for patients to rest, yes. But it is not a place equipped with privacy, especially for a woman!" Crewel huffed, placing his pointer down as the Crow-man massaged his head where he just slapped. "I will not forgive you if you just dumped this pup out on the streets!"

"That's right, Headmaster!" Ortho quickly added. "We also need to bring Ren-san back to our dorm for monthly check-ups! The infirmary is too far from the Mirror Chamber, and it'll be vexing for her body!"

"I added my latest creation for her to survive. I'm not letting my precious child suffer if you put her in a terrible place, _hihihi-!"_ Idia glowered before realizing what he just said. He looked back to the girl, which she was staring with an incredulous and amused expression.

Embarrassed, he quickly retreated back into his hoodie. "I-I-It's not what I meant! W-w-whatever you're thinking, it's not like that! Don't talk to me! Shut up!"

"...I haven't said anything yet."

"Eeek! Shush, NPC character!" 

Crowley managed to compose himself from just now. "R-right. Of course, I knew that. Hmmm..." He then closed his eyes in concentration. "Well... I can't let a magicless, injured, helpless girl stay in the academy..."

Ren looked at Crowley and Crewel back and forth, the latter rolling his eyes at the other's muttering. She leaned back to the Shroud brothers and whispered, "Is he always like this?"

They shrugged their shoulders in sync, the older one's slumped further. "Yeah... pretty much. You'll get used to it after a while, though his words can be grating sometimes." Ortho gave an uncertain smile, with Idia groaned in response.

Ren slowly nodded at that. "...My condolences." 

_"To your sanity."_ She mentally added.

"Ah! That's it!" The Headmaster exclaimed, gaining her attention. "There is an unused building near the campus. It was once used as a dormitory in the past, and it could be a little dusty. But once you've clean it up-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, for he could feel four pairs of eyes burning holes in him. For all his years as Headmaster, he had never felt this much anger directed at him. He quickly cleared his throat before continuing, "W-what I mean is, I will hire some ghosts to do some cleaning of the main room in the building, for I am gracious. That way, you will at least have a temporary clean and dustless place to rest. And it is near to the main campus, you do not have to worry about walking distances to any of our facilities."

That last part was partially directed to the group, but it was enough to earn their approval. 

"However! Since you have no interest in becoming our student, you will have to work as a temporary staff once you've fully recovered. You will be paying for your food and expenses for the time being. I will not allow any freeloaders to loiter around in my academy! Do I make myself clear, Young Ren?"

Ren straightened herself and announced with a "Sir! Yes, sir!"

"Very good!" The Headmaster beamed with pride, clearly enjoying the honorific she called him _._ He turned to the group and gestured to the door. "Now, we mustn't disturb Young Ren anymore! She needs time to recover, as you all have mentioned. Off you go! Lessons are starting soon!"

"Heh, what a way to shoo us away." Regardless, one by one, they said their goodbyes and headed to the door. Ortho gave Ren a gentle hug on her right before floating away to his brother's side.

Soon, it was left with the Headmaster and Ren in the room.

"By the way, Young Ren..." The Headmaster paused in his tracks before turning back to her. "Are you absolutely sure you're human?"

Ren blinked as she processed his question. "What do you mean by that? Of course, I'm human."

Crowley hummed before dismissing with a smile. "Ah, do not mind me. I was just talking to myself. I will let you know when the room will be done. Then, I bid you farewell. Please do not move recklessly on the school campus!" With that, he headed out with a flourish of his cape, the double doors closing on its own.

_"If you were talking to yourself, you wouldn't be looking at me with such serious eyes."_ Ren deadpanned as she plopped back onto the pillow and exhaled in relief. Talking to a group of people, especially with someone like Crowley, really took a lot of effort from her. "Haah... that was... eventful."

But it was all for the best. Ren must stay alive. For her men, her duty, her father... all so she could capture Barrett Keele once and for all.

Once she was sure everyone was gone, Ren glanced at the edge of her bed. She called out, "Hey, you can come out now. I know you're under there." 

At first, nothing happened. Until a pair of tiny paws timidly crawled out from under the bed, and soon a head popped out looking up at her with big eyes.

"Are.. are they gone, human?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanna guess who that is???
> 
> We're probably gonna meet Ace in the next chapter, but we'll see~~


	7. Chapter Six: The (Mis)Adventures of The Great Grim!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Sorry this took longer than usual. I was also doing the inktober2020 prompts xD
> 
> I also wanted to add Ace in this chapter and the Great Seven... but I realised it's gonna be really long for me to write xDD
> 
> So I'm splitting this loooong chapter to two, enjoy this first part!

Prologue

Chapter Six: The (Mis)Adventures of The Great Grim!

"Why are you here, fire-rat?" Ren stared at the said creature with her arm gently placed under her cast one. As much as she loved animals, she certainly did not welcome the one responsible for her breakdown. 

The fire-rat shook off any nervousness from before and leaped onto her bed, looking confident as he spoke. " _Nya-ha!_ Isn't that obvious? The Great Grim came to check on his only henchman! You should be grateful, human!"

"Exactly when did you decide on that?" Her face scrunched in annoyance, just staring at the creature reminded her of the bad things from last night. 

_The chaos... The noises... The fires... Big, scary fires..._

She quickly shoved those thoughts away. Shaking her head, she leaned towards the double front doors and hollered. "Anyone out there?!"

Grim yelped and quickly put his paws over her mouth, his body floating in mid-air while doing so. "W-w-wait a minute! Don't call that Crow-man over. He'll throw me out again!"

She paused, looking over at him with narrowed eyes. "Mm-mhh? _(Again?)_ "

As if he understood, he nodded feebly with his pleading teary eyes. "J-just hear me out for a second! I'll explain everything, okay? Okay??"

Grim waited for the human to nod before removing his paws and landed softly on her legs. He could feel his tail twitching nervously as the human's narrowed eyes stared at him. He let out a deep breath and began his story. "After you slept..."

*****************************************************

_"Ren-kun?!" The hyena-boy panicked as the injured student in his arms fell quiet, their head dipped to one side._

_"Relax, Ruggie. They just fainted. You should bring them to the infirmary." The lion-boy placed his hand over his shoulder to calm him down. Ruggie nodded at his dorm leader before carefully getting up to his feet. He gingerly tucked his arm under the first-year's legs and his other at their back, carrying them in a bridal style. With how small they were, it was like cradling a child._

_The black-and-white man approached with his arms open. "I can carry the small pup from you-"_

_"No. Thanks-s, Master Crewel." The boy's hands gripped tighter as he walked away from the man. "I promised I'll bring-s them to the doctor. I want to uphold-s that promise, at least."_

_Crewel nodded and stepped back. "Very well, pup. Let us be off then."_

_The Headmaster cleared his throat before announcing, "Now! For those tending to the first-year, please head to the infirmary immediately! For the other students, please make way for them! A life is at stake here!"_

_A green-haired vice-dorm leader spoke up. "...Headmaster. They've already left the room."_

_"Oh? Already? What fast response our staff is, yes indeed!" Seemingly pleased and unphased with this, his smile fell to a frown as he brought the cuffed creature to his eye level. "...Anything to say, feral familiar?"_

_Grim hissed as he squirmed in his hold. "I. Am. Not. Their. Familiar! I keep telling you, I'm not! I am the Great Grim, and I'm gonna be the greatest magician!"_

_"Great magicians do not go roasting fellow magicians and destroying precious properties!" Crowley huffed in anger as his eyes shrunk in size, making his masquerade bird mask looked more menacing. Grim cried in fear, the fires in his ears dimmed._

_"Headmaster. I do not believe that cat belongs to that injured first-year." The red-haired boy spoke up as the Headmaster looked back in shock._

_"I-is that so? Why do you think so?" He placed his clawed hand on his chin, scrutinizing the boy._

_The boy remained composed as he continued. "Considering what the Dark Mirror has said, it mentioned that it didn't sense any magic from them. It would be impossible for them to produce a summoning spell without any trace of magic in them."_

_The Headmaster hummed before he nodded, accepting the red-haired boy's explanation. "Very well, Young Rosehearts! Since I am particularly not in the mood for stewed raccoon, could you and Young Ashengrotto make sure this... vermin stays out of our school grounds? For I am ever so gracious, of course!"_

_As the smiling Headmaster passed the hissing and yelping raccoon to him, Riddle and Azul glanced at each other as they thought about the Headmaster's odd choice of words. They mentally agreed not to question it and bowed before heading to the Main Gate._

_With a flourish of his cape, Crowley announced with a wide-toothed smile. "And for some reason, the students are still here all standing and gawking at nothing! Vice-dorm leaders of Heartslabyul and Octavinelle, please escort your first-years back. Professor Trein, please do so with the Ignihyde students. With that, the Entrance Ceremony is finally over! Dismissed!"_

*****************************************************

" _'feral familiar' ..._ " Ren pondered out loud as she intently listened to the fire-rat's tale. _"Feral assassin, more like..."_

Grim took a defensive stance at that. "Yeah! He called me that! That's so mean, y'know! And he even called me _'stewed raccoon'_ like it was nothing!" He froze as he huddled his body closer. "D-do you think he was planning to eat..." He didn't finish his sentence, for he feared it might be real.

Ren placed her hand on her chin. "I don't know... raccoon meat is edible and tastes best when tenderized-" She paused to see the poor creature trembling with panic-stricken eyes. 

She blinked before her mouth formed in an 'O' shape. _"Right... I'm talking to a talking animal. Guess that wasn't the right topic to say out loud..."_ Ren grimaced a bit before giving a shaky yet reassuring smile, hoping to elevate this awkward moment. "But you have nothing to worry about. 'Cause... you're not a raccoon, right?"

That snapped him out from his shivering. "O-of course, I'm not! I'm the Great Grim! And you better don't forget that, henchman!"

Ren scoffed but unable to wipe the small smile on her face. "Yes, yes. So, what happened next?"

*****************************************************

_"Geh! Stupid Crow-man and that stupid red-hair..." The fire-creature got up to his paws as he rubbed his sore rear. Once the red-haired boy and bespectacled boy reached the Main Gate, the average-height boy released the collar. He then unceremoniously threw Grim out of the premises while the other boy closed the gates after him._

_Grim winced in pain as he gently patted around the red marks stinging his neck. He looked back to the large gates before crossing his paws with a huff. "Hmph! Dumb humans. As if that will stop me!"_

_He hopped on a rock, striking a confident pose, "I, the Great Grim, shall-"_

_CRASH!_

_"Ngyaaahhh!!!" Before he sprang a few feet off the ground before landing on fours, his fur all puffed up, and wide eyes were darting wildly around him. His body trembled as the sky suddenly blackened with roiling clouds, followed by low rumbling of thunder. When Grim detected something was off and looked up to the sky, he froze when a droplet landed near his eye._

_"NyaAhhhh!!! Go away, rain! My charming fire-ears will go out!" Grim quickly leaped through the intricate metalwork and ran towards the academy, the embers in his flattened ears already waning in the wind._

_In the corner of his vision, there was a dark shadow of a building atop a hill. "Shelter!!!" Grim immediately changed direction and charged towards the rusty door. Once he was inside, he shook himself dry, starting from his head down to the tip of his forked tail._

_"Nyurgghhh... what a wreck-nyah... NYAT-CHOO!!!" Grim gave a big sneeze from all the dust clouds when he slammed the front door._

_"Sheesh... My beautiful fur can end up white with all this dust." He rubbed his snout as he looked around at what looked to be a lounge. Well, what was left of one. The floorboards were broken, wallpapers were peeling off of walls, and broken furniture was strewn about the place. Even the roof had holes in it, raindrops dripping from them as it formed huge puddles. The creature sighed as he cautiously avoided the puddles and slid under a broken couch. He settled down and was about to close his eyes before..._

_"Heeheehee! Look what we have here, a guest!"_

_"We haven't had many ghost pals for a long time... It gets really lonely in here, hihihi!"_

_"What about you join us, furball?!"_

_...before he woke up to see three pale-white figures, heads emerging from the floorboards in front of him._

_Three pairs of droopy dark eyes staring at him._

_Three smiles with devilish intent grinning at him._

_And he could see through them._

_"GYAAHHH! G-G-G-GHOSTS!!!!"_

*****************************************************

"And before I knew it, those stupid ghosts kicked me out into the rain again! How infuriating!" Grim stomped his feet as emphasis, the fires in his ears burn brightly in anger.

"..."

He huffed with his arms on his hips, tail flickering with annoyance. "B-but I did put up a good fight! They're just too fast, always disappearing before I could even land a good hit! That's so unfair!"

"... ..."

"I was about to go back there again till I caught a whiff of your scent! So I followed it! That Crow-man was there too, but the Great Grim managed to sneak past him and the other humans to get here!"

"... ... ..."

"And so, here I am! To make sure your weak self is alright and everything. You should be grateful and honored to have the Great Grim looking out... Hey! Are you even listening?!"

Ren was, in fact listening, but she was more focused on how Grim's fur looked slightly damp. And there was a faint scent of _petrichor*_ emitting from him. "...It was raining outside?"

"Yeah! Like I said just now, there was lightning and thunder and everything! It was so sca-! I-I mean, I wasn't scared at all! Were you deaf last night?"

Ren kept quiet as she processed his claims. _"After all that happened to him, he ended up looking for me? Came here undetected and stayed through the night...?"_

The injured girl slowly leaned forward, which the creature took a step back. She tilted her head with a finger on her chin. "Grim."

Said creature jolted at her suddenly serious tone. "W-what?"

"Why do you want to stay in this academy so badly?"

His ears perked up at that, his face brightening as he spoke with wonder. "Isn't it obvious, human? I always knew that I'll be the greatest magician!"

*****************************************************

_"Isn't it obvious? I've always admired you ever since that day, and now! I wanna be a detective, just like you!"_

_The ambitious attitude..._

*****************************************************

The creature bounced up and floated mid-air, before flying upwards and in loops around the infirmary, with his arms raised up. "Every day, I keep waiting for the Ebony Carriage to come and pick me up!"

*****************************************************

_"I just know that with you as my mentor, I'll be in good hands! I am looking forward to being trained under you, Detective!"_

_The child-like wonder in his smile..._

*****************************************************

But the fire-rat slowly floated down and sat on Ren's lap, with his ears and tail drooped and teary eyes. "And yet... and yet..."

*****************************************************

_"...G-guess what, Detective? I've failed the test... again. B-but I'll try harder next time! Promise!"_

_The forlorn expression in his eyes..._

*****************************************************

Though the creature recovered from his somber mood very quickly and gave a disdain look. "Hmph! That ol' Dark Mirror doesn't have eyes for such greatness, like me."

Ren could only stare with an unreadable look, her expression slowly frowning. _"This is so similar... way too similar... He's... He's almost like-"_

RUMBLE

Both of them froze at that sound. They then stared at each other for a good minute before Ren broke into snickers. Grim, on the other hand, looked amusingly flustered, cheeks flaring pink as he tried hiding his white belly with his paws.

"S-stop laughing! All that running made me hungry, that's all! I-"

Grim didn't get to finish his sentence as the human in front of him shook their head, still smiling. They leaned to the side to reach for the sandwich, and he was surprised to see the human expertly tore out half and offered it to him. 

When he did not make any movement, the human raised their eyebrow before motioning their hand again. "Come on. You're hungry, aren't you?"

Grim approached the hand very slowly while looking at their eyes with suspicion. Once closer, he swiftly snatched the half sandwich and turned his back to them. The creature sniffed the sandwich and took a bite. His eyes widened with glee as he continued munching his breakfast. _"It's tuna! My favorite! This human isn't so bad, I guess."_

Seeing the creature happily eating on his sandwich with gusto brought a soft smile on her face, fingers teasing sections of bread before putting in her mouth. They sat on the bed, with Grim on her lap, relishing the quiet morning as they enjoyed their small breakfast. _"You've been through a lot, huh? Guess the fire-rat's not so bad."_

*

**

***

"Man... this sucks."

A boy exhaled for the fifth time as he moved the broom lethargically, dragging the dry leaves to a not so impressive pile before stretching his back. He was careful not to ruin the red heart mark on his cheek, wiping away the sweat rolling down his forehead.

_"I was only gone for a moment... It's not my fault the Entrance Ceremony got dragged on!"_ He bitterly thought as he grabbed the broom and looked back at Main Street. The whole stretch was covered with dry leaves, even on the Great Seven statues! Not to mention, he could even hear the hushed sniggering from the other students walking by.

_"I'm sure I got back before anyone even noticed me. No one realized I was gone! So how did that twerp even know??!"_ The boy's fist clenched around the broom before resuming to his task, albeit rather roughly.

"And then what did he say? _'For breaking the rules of Night Raven College, you are punished by sweeping the entirety of Main Street. Oh, and I have already gained the Headmaster's approval. Since we were already short-staffed in the utility section. You should be grateful-blah blah blah'_ Screw that nonsense!!!" Annoyed, he angrily kicked the stray leaves off the ground.

"If I ever see that brat again, I'm gonna-!"

"Woahhh!!! So this is Main Street. Amazing!"

"...Huh?" Confused, the boy turned around to see a short boy wearing what looked to be some sort of pajamas with... slippers? There was also a sling for his left arm, and his walking looked a bit shaky. Tottering, even.

"Remember Grim. No big fires, okay? You promised, yeah??"

"Yeah, yeah. As thanks for the food, the Great Grim will not break that promise!"

The boy stared at the weird student and that weird raccoon on his right shoulder till he realized something. "Isn't that the injured first-year and the raccoon that ruined the ceremony last night?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *petrichor - it is the earthy scent produced from when rain falls on dry soil.
> 
> Okay, onto the second part! Gotta go, gotta go!


	8. Chapter Seven: 'Respecting' the Great Seven!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the second part is out!
> 
> okie, I'll probably come back after I finished inktober xD
> 
> Enjoy the second part!

Prologue

Chapter Seven: 'Respecting' the Great Seven!

"Oh yeah. Why are we doing out here, human?"

"Name's Ren. Call me human again, and I'll call you fire-rat. And I forgot to ask the Headmaster about the blade, so we're looking for him. Remember?" Ren angled her head in the creature's direction. 

"Why do you want the blade that hurt you? You're weird, human." She sighed as she continued her walk. Dry leaves crunched under her slippers, which she found under her bed.

Before they left the infirmary, Ren took a final look in the mirror and almost froze at her new appearance. In the mirror, she saw a young teenager with short brown hair. She frowned when her head barely reached the middle of the mirror. _"Oh yeah, I definitely shrunk. I was at least 20cm taller..."_

Walking closer, she turned her face in several angles as her hand gently touched her cheek. _"Goodness... It's like looking at my sixteen-year-old self. That's... ten years gone. TEN YEARS."_

Ren furrowed her eyebrows as she sulkily poked her soft cheeks. "The biggest question is... why??? Why shrink to this age? This doesn't make any sense..."

She shook her head before focusing on her current task. While talking to the fire-rat, she realized she had forgotten to ask the Headmaster regarding the broken blade. It was concrete evidence that needed for analyzing for the forensic department and that it could be used against the criminal if the case ever went to trial. Ren could try looking for the Headmaster in his office, but a kind passer-by mentioned he saw him walking towards the Market. She would need to walk through Main Street to reach the Market.

"Y'know, now that I got a better look. These statues are pretty scary, huh?" Ren noticed the seven statues situated at the sides of the street. There were four female figures and three male ones. Though, one of them was a male lion. Each sculpture had a gold plague with some inscriptions carved on it. Perhaps a summarized synopsis of their tales? She tried leaning closer to read, but the script seemed to be in old writing. She reluctantly stepped back when she realized she does not recognize the literature.

"Hey, look! This big granny looks snobby, human!" Ren looked up from the plague to see Grim pointing at the statue in front of her. It looked like a queen with a rounded figure, surrounded by roses at her feet. She seemed to be giving a curtsy, giving off a poised manner.

"She does look 'snobby'... more like proud? Dignified? And maybe... elegant, based on her pose. Hmm... if only I could read the plague." She muttered the last words as she contemplated her next words-

"Do you not know the Queen of Hearts?"

Ren snapped to her left to see a student walking towards them, bearing a cheery expression. She tilted her head as she assessed his appearance. _"Hmm... Auburn hair. Bright red eyes. Towering maybe 170cm. Oh, and a red heart mark over his left eye. Did he think that will make him charming? An adorable attempt."_

Her eyes flicked to what he was holding. _"A broom... A grass broom, to be exact. There's also a leaf pile two statues behind him. Is he on cleaning duty?"_

Grim picked up on his question, leaning closer to the boy's direction. "Queen of Hearts? She a great leader?"

"Long ago, the Queen of Hearts lived in the Rose Maze. Legend has it that she's a woman who valued rules and discipline above all and very particular to the tiniest of details, from the Card Soldiers' march to the color of the rose bushes." The boy placed his broom leaning against the statue before continuing his tale. 

"It was a kingdom filled with madness where all submit to her rule. Wanna know why?" The boy leaned forward to her face, which she instinctively leaned away with a raise of her eyebrows. 

"'Cause anyone who dared to rebel, it's off of their heads!" He finished with a finger swiped across his neck, smile widening when Grim jolted with a yelp.

"Yikes! That's scary y'know!"

"Relax, fire-rat. It's just a story." Ren reached up and gently smoothed his raised fur, which he leaned further to her touch.

"Really? I think it's cool." The boy cheerfully added. "I mean, no one would want to listen to an overly nice Queen, right?"

"I think it's ridiculous."

The boy blinked before looking back to the weird first-year, both him and the raccoon giving questioning glances.

Ren ignored them as she continued smoothing Grim's fur. "It's true no one would listen to a goody-two-shoes Queen. But no one would want a Queen that nitpicks on every minute thing and that the punishment is instant death. With such an oppressive ruler, it's no wonder the whole kingdom went mad."

The student's eyes widened as the small first-year looked back at him. "Imagine you're hungry, and you ate a tart. Then the Queen offed your head because that was her favorite tart. Not to mention offing your family as well. Just in case they might make the same mistake. Quite unfair, isn't it?"

Grim grimaced at that. "I would never do that for a tart. I'm not even a tart lover!"

The boy stared in awe. "That's... that's some story you got there."

Ren smiled. "It's all just speculation, an occupational hazard of mine. Though they tend to be accurate at times. I hope I didn't scare or insult you."

"N-no way! It's refreshing to hear a different perspective of the Great Seven." Thankfully, the boy laughed it off with a bright smile. Though upon closer inspection, his lips seemed to be... quivering a bit? Perhaps she was seeing things.

"By the way, who're you?" Grim asked curiously.

"The name's Ace. Your fresh-faced first year. Nice to meetcha!"

Grim stood up from her shoulder, chest puffed up. "I'm the Great Grim. A 'bonafife' genius that'll be the greatest magician! And this is my hench-yeow!"

"It's bonafide, and I don't remember agreeing to be anyone's henchman." She smiled while pinching Grim's cheek before letting go. "Name's Ren. How d'you do?"

She gave her hand, which Ace gladly took in a handshake. "Ren, huh? That's an odd-sounding name."

Ren paused before retrieving her hand. _"Odd-sounding? Sure, I'm not from here, and it's probably a weird name to him. But he's a first-year, right? He should've heard my name in the ceremony, or at least heard some gossips from his classmates. I wasn't even very 'subtle' that night. Why is he feigning ignorance?"_

Before she could say anything, Grim jumped to her head with his tail wagging side to side. "Hey, Ace! What about that scar-faced lion over there? Are they important?"

"Of course!" Ace, being the perky student he claimed to be, bounced towards the next statue.

"Come on, human! Onwards!" Ren stayed quiet as she observed Ace's movements. So far, he hasn't done anything yet. But she could never be too careful. She then slowly walked to the auburn-haired boy. _"Alright. Let's see what you're playing at, rookie."_

"Behold! The King of Beasts, ruler of the Savannah." Ace excitedly introduced the lion statue, standing proudly atop a rock surrounded by animal bones. "Despite not being firstborn, he took the throne through effort and elaborate planning. After becoming King, he even let the loathed hyenas live in his kingdom without discrimination."

"Woahh... Guess he's one not to be held by status!"

Ren took a double-take when she realized Ace was looking at her expectantly. "Err... I have nothing to say?"

"Oh, come on! What's your view on this?" 

She had to stretch her arm out when he came unbearably close. Ren looked up to the lion. " _'Through effort and elaborate planning'_ , huh? I wonder what happened to the firstborn after he becomes King. A carefully planned accident, perhaps?"

"Whoo... that's a shady assumption, mate!" Ace then bounded to the voluptuous octopus-lady statue, with Ren following behind.

"Deep in the caverns down below lies the Sea Witch. With her magic, she can help all unfortunate merfolk. Changing your looks, finding love... anything is possible so long you have the right price! Though her rates are pretty high, that's the price for literally _'anything'_."

"Nya-ha! So I can become rich once I've become the greatest magician!"

_"These tales are getting more and more absurd by the minute."_ Ren scoffed. "What a scam. Sounds like extorting high taxes from the innocent poor. A classic con artist's trickery."

" _Hahaha!_ You sure don't mince your words, do ya? These are prestigious figures, you know?" Ace crossed his arms in amusement.

"And I don't care much for politics, nor celebrity scandals. Think that's quite obvious." Ren, already gotten bored with the tales, started staring off into the distance.

"Oh, don't be such a downer! What about this guy? The Great Sorceror of the Sands!" Ace seemed to be putting more effort into dragging Ren into this little game of _"Guess-Who's-this-Great-Figure?"_ and Grim was absorbing it all.

This has continued with the other three other figures; the tactful planning that the cunning Sorceror had devised. The passionate drive of becoming the most beautiful the Evil Queen had. And the hardworking attitude the Underworld Lord had. 

And after every tale, Ren concluded with her share of wisdom for each of them:

"A vizier becoming the Sultan? Either the previous Sultan gracefully passed the throne to him, or he had been betrayed by the one he trusted most."

"I can't judge that. I've never had that kind of drive in me for beauty. Though it'd be a different story if the Queen condemned murder for beauty as well."

"Sincerity? With _that_ face? Please, it's like calling scum cleansing. That Lord needs to get his loose screws checked."

"Oh-hhoooohhh!!! Roasted! Nice one, henchman! Nya-hahaha!!!" And Grim was loving all of it. He stopped listening to Ace's tales halfway and just focused on Ren's witty words. Though, she would be lying if she felt not an ounce of pride at that.

"Haha! You're not holding back! Okay, last one; the Horned Witch of Thorns who hails from the Magic Mountains!" Ace then brought them to a lady donned in long robes, with spiky thorns crowding around her feet.

Ren stayed silent as Ace began the tale. "Noble and elegant, she was the top in magic and curses among the Seven! Her magic was on a whole other level. Like summoning lightning and storms, even covering an entire country in thorns! I heard she can even transform into a dragon!"

That got Grim's attention, blue eyes sparkling with admiration. "Wow! A dragon!! We monsters look up to them y'know!!!"

Ace quickly looked at the small first-year, anticipating what colorful words he had for this figure. But Ren hadn't said anything, just staring. He tilted his head with a playful smile. "What's wrong? You've gone quiet. Cat got your tongue, mate?"

"It's sad..."

"Huh?"

Ren glanced back. "I don't know the exact reason, but I just feel sad looking at her." 

_"And there's... something familiar about her. Something was taken away... Something... tragic..."_ Ren winced as she reached for her injured shoulder as if remembering the ghostly pain of the blade. _"Something dear to her... Whatever it was, she definitely looked devastated. She may be considered revered. But to me, she looked more of a broken woman who'd lost everything. Surviving on vengeance and hatred towards those who hurt her. This is something I can't utter out loud. That I will respect, dragon-lady."_

The auburn-haired boy was surprised to see Ren taking a step back and bowed down to the Witch of Thorns statue. "What, nothing to say? Pfft! Just admit it, you've run out of insults to dish on her!"

"I don't insult people for no good reason. I'm not that inconsiderate."

"But man... They're all so cool... unlike a certain raccoon."

"W-what...?" Grim jumped back from Ace's sudden change of tone.

The auburn-haired boy stepped back while holding his stomach, head hung low. " _Pfft.... ...... ahahaha... AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!_ I can't take it anymore! _AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!_ " True to his words, he fell to the ground laughing his heart out. 

Ren looked down at the hysterical boy with a resigned expression. _"And here I thought I made a friend. Pity."_

Grim, on the other hand, did not appreciate being laughed at. "Guhh...! Why you..."

"Hey, losers. Aren't you the ones responsible for that whole debacle at the Entrance Ceremony?" As the boy regained his breath, he got up to his feet in front of them, was no longer the fresh-faced first year he claimed to be. Instead, he sported an expression filled with mischief and intent to talk down his victims with humiliation and hurt.

"A monster that wasn't summoned by the Dark Mirror yet trespassed this school..." He looked at the creature, which Grim responded with a hiss.

"...and the first-year that was summoned, but don't have any magic at hand. Man, it took a lot of me to not just burst in the ceremony... _hahaha!_ " He then looked to the little tyke before bending down to his eye level.

He then pressed a finger harshly on her forehead. "Though in your case, it looks like you've already figured out what I was doing. But you went along with the flow. Are you an idiot?"

Grim's paws clenched around Ren's hair. "Wha-?! You're a rude one y'know!"

_"It's like the first day of school. It hurts so much it's almost nostalgic."_ Ren maintained her cold composure before answering, "I thought you were going to do something sinister. But it turns out, you were just pretending to be a nice boy, later to be revealed you're anything but. How original."

Ace's smile fell even as she continued. "You look like the type that relishes in torturing innocent kids with condescending words and not feel remorseful because you think emotions are a waste of time. If anything, people who think like that are the true idiots. Pathetic."

When he did not say anything, Ren gave a mocking grin. "I'm sorry, did I insult you? Cat got your tongue, _mate_?"

That only made Ace scoffed mirthlessly. "Whatever. It's not like you could do anything about it. Heck, you don't even know about the Great Seven! What kind of a rock you've been living in, huh? Instead of Night Raven, go trespass a kindergarten, why don't you? _Pfft-hahaha!!!_ "

Ren was about to leave before Grim hopped off of her.

"...! Grim!"

"This jerk! Imma teach you a thing or two for messing the Great Grim!" And as he was puffing and huffing, Ren could feel the embers from his mouth... He's gonna-!

"GRIM!!!"

Both Ace and Grim flinched from her shout. Ren looked visibly spooked as her whole body heaving and panting.

"You promised... No fires, Grim... No big fires..."

Grim looked very torn. He wanted to teach that student, but Ren's pleading and scared expression was telling him otherwise. "B-but he was-! You saw him-!"

He immediately shut his mouth when Ren slowly kneeled down with her arm opened, eyes teary. "Please... No more fires... Come back... please..."

With his ear drooping, he bared his teeth at Ace before reluctantly returned to her arms. She could hear him muttering, "You owe me a tuna sandwich... No, make it two!" 

She gently scooped him and placed him back on her shoulder before looking back at Ace. "I appreciate the tour, and you had your fun. I wish you a good day." Ren tilted her head forward before heading towards the road leading to the Market. If he could just stay quiet...

"Pfft! Whatever. Not to mention, you got yourself all mangled and bandaged like that. That's so lame. Go get a bigger blade, why don't you!"

Ren paused in her steps.

"You must've been desperate, faking an act like that. Like that's even a real knife! That's all a fake!"

Her face hardened, widening eyes twitching with irritation.

"Hah! Unlike you attention-seekers, I have a class to attend to. Why don't you make yourselves useful and sweep this street for me? See you!"

And with that, he walked away. That was the final straw. _"Of course, he won't stay quiet."_

Grim clawed her shirt as he snarled at him. "How dare he...! I'm gonna-!"

"Grim."

Said creature winced, his ears drooping. "I know, I know. But-!"

"Tell me, how do you get a bird's attention?"

"H-huh? Ermm.... something shiny???"

"...And what do we have that's shiny?"

Grim was confused but thought hard regardless. Until his face brightened, sporting an evil smirk. "You mean...?"

Ren closed her eyes and exhaled a heavy sigh. She then turned around and stretched out her hand to the auburn-haired boy. "Light his ass, Grim."


	9. Chapter Eight: He's My What? Exposure Therapy That He Is!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm back! But not for long, I'm having wifi problems, so I decided to put this out before all is lost...
> 
> Hope I can get the wifi working again *crosses fingers*
> 
> Enjoy~!

Prologue

Chapter Eight: He's My What? Exposure Therapy That He Is!

FWOOSH

Ace jumped just in time to avoid a blast of flames from behind. "Woah, hey! Watch what you're doing!"

Grim smirked as he hopped back to her shoulder, his tail wagging to and fro. "That's what you get for making fun of the Great Grim!"

Ren closed her eyes and heaved a heavy breath, trying to control her trembling. She then took a peek before she hung her head. "Grim... You almost had it... You only singed his blazer. Try lighting his rear... in one shot, okay?"

Ace reeled back in shock. "Hey, you! Why are you encouraging him??! I thought you had it under control!"

Ren flicked her gaze at him with a frown. "You said that, but I've only met _him_ for a few hours, including last night. There's only so much I can do."

She shakily walked towards him while Ace cautiously stepped back. "Besides, Grim isn't gonna stop anytime, and I don't like your tone. So..." She picked up the grass broom he left behind before giving a quick look. She raised her eyebrow when she saw the tag _"Fire resistant grass broom. Only for 9.99 madol!"_ on the handle. 

_"Well... that seems handy."_ Ren thought as she continued, "Why don't you be a good rookie..." Ace flinched when her frown contorted into a twitchy manic grin, "and lent us that slack-ass of yours? Pretty please??"

"That's not convincing anyone!"

" _Nyeeheehee!_ I'm gonna light up that fire-head of yours like a beacon!"

Ace's expression turned sour as he turned his attention to the smirking raccoon. "...Fire-head, eh? You've got some guts picking a fight with me, mate."

Ren blinked from her manic thoughts before scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, shrugging her shoulder Grim was on lightly. "Grim, I thought we're going for the ass, not the head."

"Oi! Don't ignore me!!"

The fire creature blinked at her question. "Of course we're going for the head! That guy just insulted the Great Grim, and I want to light his head!"

Ren paused as she stared at Grim, which he glared defiantly at her before sighing reluctantly. "You know what, I suppose a bald head might light the way. Here I thought a roasted rump is more funnier..."

"Why are you suddenly so unenthused about it?!" The boy already brandished his Magical Pen out from his pocket, looking really annoyed.

Their banter had garnered attention from the students passing by. Ren noticed the students' started whispering to one another. Some were snickering, others were looking upon with interest.

"What's going on? A magic duel?"

"Eh? With that little tyke?! Isn't he injured?"

"Who cares?! Get 'em, firstie!"

Ren looked at the sudden crowd of students weirdly as the cheers and jeers alike grew louder. _"Wow, they're not even stopping us... Is this really a prestigious school?"_ She sighed for the third time, bringing the broom to her side in a circular motion while twirling the handle with her fingers.

Ace's Magical Pen shone bright red, dried leaves started to float at his feet. There was a wicked gleam in his red eyes. "I'm gonna turn your little pet into a puffy, stuffed poodle!"

Despite already feeling tired, Ren narrowed her eyes as she readied herself. "Don't miss, Grim. Let's make his head so shiny it rivals the sun."

" _Nya-ha!_ You can count on me, henchman!"

*****************************************************

"What in seven ravens is going on here??!"

Ren would have covered her ears from the Headmaster's screeching cry if she was not huddling beside the dragon-lady statue. She forced herself to repress her breathing and panic attacks, all the while looking away from the carnage Grim and that slack-ass had created. 

What happened? Well, it was decently epic for Ren's first magic brawl. The raccoon had already jumped off from the small person, his attention solely focused on the redhead. As Grim was firing his fireballs, Ace evaded them by using his wind magic to blow them away. Ren tried helping by running towards a blind spot and swept dry leaves in front of Ace, which he swiftly dodged. Her objective was to get Grim to blow his fireballs near Ace's head, hoping it would start a spark on his auburn colored hair.

When the blue flames got a bit too far, She ran and quickly swept some leaves off the ground in the fire's direction. The fires immediately burn them to ashes. That way, the other students would not get hurt from the brawl. Though, the more she kept doing it, the more she could feel the strain from her shoulder. Sometimes, she would falter whenever the fire got too close to her, making her body shudder in pain. Her eyes were screwed shut while steadying her panting, her free hand clenching the handle tightly.

However, if it meant the boy would learn what he did wrong, she would ignore everything and continue the onslaught. Ren shook her head and continue sweeping potential targets off the floor to that student's head, maybe add a whack to the head as well if she could.

Then, everything went downhill when Grim got frustrated that he kept missing. He blew a fire burst and sent it straight to Ace. The boy froze before a petite figure ran in front of him, in front of the blast. The small tyke had already abandoned his broom, grabbed his blazer, and pulled him down. Ace blinked, quickly casting a wind spell to extinguish the fire blast while holding the little boy(?) close to him. Instead, the wind merely changed the fire's course and ended up burning the trees behind the Great Seven statues. By the time he realized what happened, the little tyke had already hobbled away from the blazing trees.

KER-SNAP!!!

"Ooowwww!!!"

"Ffnyaaa! It hurts just as much as last night!"

"It is my Lash of Love! It'll be another hundred years before you can outrun me!"

_"So... yeah. That happened."_ Looking over, Ren noticed the two of them were immediately tied up by the Headmaster's infamous Love Lash the moment he heard the commotion. _"Speaking of the Headmaster..."_ She shifted her gaze to the tall man and, based on his beady eyes and slack-opened jaw. He looked utterly scandalized as the row of trees behind was engulfed in blue flames.

"Even though your kerfuffle did not char any of the Great Seven statues, you lit the apple trees on fire instead!" Crowley bellowed out, black feathers on his cape bristling in anger. "Those apple trees are our pride and joy in Night Raven College themselves!! That is the same as insulting the Great Seven figures, how disrespectful!!!"

The small detective gasped as she suddenly found her chest tightening. _"O-oh no... It's happening again... Just b-breathe... Inhale... 2... 3... 4... H-hold... 2... 3... 4..."_

"I would very much like to see you both expelled... Now that I take a closer look, you are the monster who rampaged our Mirror Chamber last night! You should've already been thrown out! Why are you back here?!"

She tried balling her fists, but her fingers kept twitching violently. _"Exhale... 2... 3... 4... H-hold... Ho-hold... 2... 3... 4..."_

She could feel the darkness swirling around her, locking her body in place. _"I-inhale... in-haah-hale... "_

_In... In..._

_In..._

"...Young Ren?"

She did not realize she had shut her eyes when her vision revealed a pair of glowing yellow eyes gazing at her with worry. When did the Headmaster appear next to her? Wasn't he reprimanding the redhead and Grim? Her eyes darted back to both of them still tied up, though Grim did not look pleased that Crow-man was near her. Ace, on the other hand, was looking back at her with an unreadable expression.

Ren tried opening her mouth to talk but ended up gasping and heaving. The Crow-man pressed a clawed finger to her lips as he shushed her. "Do not try to speak, Young Ren." 

He gently placed a hand on her shoulder as she took a deep breath, forming words from her mouth. "The... the fi... fire. Wha... What hap-"

"No need to worry. Everything is under control. For now, focus on your breathing." He subtly knelt closer to block her peripheral vision from the still burning trees, holding her head near to his chest. Somehow, the gesture felt really soothing. She could not tell whether it was magic or the presence of another, but she could feel her muscles relaxing. His whispers of comfort were calming as the inner turmoil in her head slowly dissipated.

Once she was breathing normally, the Headmaster whispered, "Now, what were you doing outside the infirmary? Didn't I mention not to move recklessly?"

"I was... looking... for you..." Now that Ren felt a bit better, she felt embarrassed that she showed her weak self to the Headmaster. Not when she remembered spewing harsh words at him last night. Having him of all people to comfort her was awkward at its finest.

There was a visible frown behind his masquerade mask as he tutted. "You could have waited for me to return. I was about to give a fresh set of clothes for you to change, hence why I was in the market."

She visibly winced at that. _"Why, of all times, is he acting like a competent Headmaster now? Is he torturing me...??"_ She could only mumble back, not looking in the eye. "I-it's important... It's about the blade..."

"Goodness me... Can you stand?"

When Ren shook her head, he swiftly scooped her up with an arm. She jolted from the sudden action, unconsciously latching onto his shoulder for support. "I'll have you know that your behavior for today has startled me. You, of all people, should be the more responsible and sensible one. Have you already forgotten about last night? Not to mention..."

She followed his gaze to see the fire-rat glaring back, baring his fangs with a hiss. "You must have been so traumatized from this familiar's fiery antics! Though you do not have to worry, we will throw out this vermin once more! For I am gracious, of course."

Her eyes widened as she quickly stopped Crowley. "W-wait!"

"Hm?"

Ren should not have looked at Grim at that moment. Not at his big teary eyes and flattened ears and his...

_"I can't believe I'm doing this..."_ Ren grimaced as she leaned into Crowley's ear and whispered her request.

"...I beg your pardon?!"

She could only give a pained smile at his aghast expression. "I'll explain later. Just don't... throw him out. Yet. Please."

His golden eyes narrowed at her before pointing his cane at the redhead. "State your name and grade, boy."

"...Ace Trappola. First-year."

"Hmph. So much trouble from a first-year. As punishment for scorching our prized apple trees, you and that raccoon are to wash a hundred windows around the campus!"

"What?! Why me??!" / "Nyaa-?! Me too??!"

"And as for you, Young Ren." The Headmaster ignored their cries. "Despite your current state, you are also included in the punishment. After school, meet up at the cafeteria. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir..." Ren hung her head in shame. _"It would've been worth it if there's a bald head..."_ Ren frowned at the sulking redhead. _"Instead, I get bald trees... So close, yet so far."_

*****************************************************

It was awfully silent back in the infirmary. The Shroud brothers were asked to come back immediately to tend to Ren's wound. Though the older Shroud was not present due to attending a busy event. Instead, his floating blue tablet came in his stead, which she thought was ingenious. 

"Eeek!" Though the tablet quickly turned away when she abruptly took off her top.

"Oh, sorry." She shrugged her shoulders with a smile but continued till her shoulders were revealed.

"Young Ren! Cease this action!" She blankly glanced at the Headmaster, who was panicking by the bed she was sitting on. "Do you not see what you are doing? There are males at present!"

She rolled her eyes. "You guys are making a big deal out of this. We need to patch up the wound, right? Sides, I'm sure you've seen a half-naked woman before, yeah?"

"That is not what I meant..." Crowley didn't finish his sentence as he rubbed his temple with a frown.

She stayed silent while listening to the whirring sounds from behind. According to her robot doctor's scan, the metal pin was still intact in her shoulder, though the tear split a bit at the sides. With that, he floated to her side and carefully sutured the scar with his hands-turned-medical equipment.

She winced as Ortho's index finger-turned-disinfectant sprayed at the open wound. She then looked up when she heard a clearing of the throat. "Now, Young Ren. I would like you to answer my questions." Crowley continued when he received a nod. "First of all, why were you outside the infirmary?"

"I wanted to ask about the blade. I would like to keep it-"

"What?! Why would you even want that?!!"

"Because! It can be used as concrete evidence when I get back home! Against the criminal! And if I lose that blade, I may lose my only clue to that arsonist, and he will run away scot-free! And I will have no one to blame but at myself and-!" Ren quickly stopped herself with a hiss and sighed heavily. She continued after giving her doctor an apologetic look, which he resumed his procedure with his now index finger-turned-needle. "I just want the blade for safekeeping, so don't throw it away. Please."

Crowley hummed as he crossed his arms, deliberating. "Very well. Though I will be keeping it in my office. It will be disastrous if ever a child like you were to handle such a dangerous object!" 

"Fine by me."

"Good. Secondly..." He paused before looking back at the raccoon, who was once again tied up at a corner. Muffles and growls resonated from where he was. "Why is that creature here, and why do you want to keep it? Isn't it the cause of your pain?"

Ren's eye twitched as she followed his gaze. "Grim found his way back on his own and decided to stick around. And as I said earlier, he will not be my familiar. Instead, he'll be..." She paused as she tried to find the right words. "my ex...posure therapy."

The whirling sounds from behind her stopped abruptly. Without even looking, she could imagine the shock in her doctor's expression.

Ren could feel her smile twitching as she forced the words out of her mouth. "I'm saying is that... I... n-need Grim... to help... me."

"..."

"..."

The Headmaster gave a deadpan look, "...You are not convincing anyone with that tone, my dear."

"Fgynph-?! Mmh! Mm-mmph mmph, mmph!" A certain bouncing fire-rat-worm made sure he was not left out of this conversation.

_"Urghh... this is already sounding like a bad idea."_ She inwardly sighed while hiding the trembling in her voice. "Okay, I know it sounds weird, but I've done this before. And I've already completed it! ...just didn't expect I would be facing such huge fires so quickly..."

"But Ren-san..." Her doctor spoke after a long while of silence. "Exposure therapy is the most common method to treat phobias. Are you stating that you're suffering from one?"

She hummed, "Think I was diagnosed with pyrophobia, though I don't remember how I got it..." She then shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I just need to get rid of this phobia, and Grim seems like the right person- or fire-rat for the job."

Ortho looked shocked. "Didn't you say you've already completed your therapy?! Not to mention, there are other alternative methods for your phobia."

Ren shook her head. "Exposure therapy is highly effective in treating phobias. And the one I completed is for _controlled_ fire, not the kind Grim conjured." She turned to the said creature, who was looking back in awe. She returned it with a soft smile. "Besides, if I want to take responsibility for a certain arrogant fire-rat, I need to be prepared to handle his misfires."

"Mm-mmph?! Mmph mm-mmph!" Ren just stuck her tongue at the angry wiggling worm.

The Headmaster watched their banter before shaking his head. "It would seem you've made up your mind. Very well. However! Grim will be under the Head doctor's supervision during your therapy sessions. So, under no circumstances should he light his fires for any reason!"

The indignant muffled cries made him turn with a scoff. "If you have any more complaints, that is fine. I can just throw you out once more and find a much suitable replacement for Young Ren's therapy."

Grim flinched at that and kept quiet, his tail flickering in annoyance.

The Headmaster ignored him before giving Ren a softer expression. "And finally... No, it's nothing. That is all. For now, remain in the infirmary until Young Shroud has completed his check-up. Once you're done, you may proceed to the cafeteria should you feel hungry."

Ren smiled at her robot savior, "I'm counting on you, Dr. Ortho."

Ortho perked up at that, beaming. "Alright!" 

"Refrain from doing anything rash, and keep your familiar under tight supervision! Am I clear, Young Ren?"

She nodded firmly. "Crystal, sir!"

"Very good!" The Headmaster preened while ruffling her hair gently. He then left the room, releasing Grim from his bounds and sending him to her arms with a flick of his whip.

*****************************************************

After Dr. Ortho's check-up, he had mended her scar with a synthetic thread that was not harmful to her body. He even concluded that she should avoid any physical activities for at least a month. He was also nice enough to give a detailed explanation of how her surgery went when she was unconscious the other night. According to him, only Professor Crewel and he did the operation while the rest, Ruggie and Idia, were waiting outside. Professor Crewel already removed his furry coat and wore medical gloves and mask, was in charge of removing the blade, and ensuring her blood intake. Ortho, in his Precision Gear, was in charge of handling the medical tools and directing the Professor to the exact location of the sharp object without bursting the surrounding blood vessels.

Though Grim grew pale as the description, Ren remained calm while soothing his fur with one hand. Having already injured more than she could count from her previous cases, she had gotten used to the doctor explaining the operations they did. They even tried bringing in X-rays of her body, hoping it would persuade her to stop injuring herself. 

_"Well, being a detective is a dangerous job. There's bound to have accidents along the way."_ is what she would always reply.

Once the Shroud brothers left, Ren's left arm was once again in a cast, and spent her morning lazing in the infirmary. Though she began moving when Grim started complaining that he was hungry.

Ren noticed Grim had not said anything yet, at least nothing derogatory. Instead, he seemed content to stay on her not injured shoulder, his tail sometimes brushing against her back. As she wondered why the sudden change in attitude, her feet brought her to the cafeteria.


	10. Chapter Nine: One Little~ Two Little~ Oh! No More Brain Cells!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wifi's back! This chapter is a little bit longer than usual. It's like the chapters are getting longer bit by bit xD
> 
> Here you get to see a little bit of Ren's thinking, a little detective deduction. XDD
> 
> Enjoy~~!

Prologue

Chapter Nine: One Little~ Two Little~ Oh! No More Brain Cells!

"Yay! It's lunchtime!!"

"Hold up, Kalim! Stop running on your own!"

The white-haired boy halted before turning back with a sheepish look on his face. " _ Ah-haha!  _ Sorry, Jamil!"

The Vice dorm leader merely rolled his eyes as Kalim trodded back to his side. Normally they would eat their lunch as usual but, a certain someone had eaten all the side dishes he specifically made for lunch last night.  _ "What was the point of making lunch boxes again...?" _ Just thinking back gave him a slight headache. So, they decided to have cafeteria food as their lunch instead.

The cafeteria was a large area, donned with long rectangular tables and benches. A fancy bowl of fruits sat atop the tables as decoration. Lining beside the walls were tall candlesticks, designed to look like branches. Following that aesthetic was a huge chandelier that stretched almost the entire area, yellow spheres of light hung from the branch-like arms, making the place looked grand. 

"Hey, Jamil."

"What is it, Kalim...?" Jamil paused as he followed his gaze to see a small figure blocking the rest of the line. It looked like that person seemed to be taking a long time to select their food. Though what caught his attention was that familiar grey creature on their shoulder. And that their half-tied ponytail parted strangely like a flower. Interesting.

"...Isn't that the creature that burned my butt last night?" Kalim's direct question caught him off guard, his whole body flinching as he recounted that night. After they went back to their dorms, they had to cut their orientation short and retire to their bedrooms, for their Dorm leader cried that his backside hurt. When Jamil checked, his rump was indeed smarting red, so he applied some aloe ointment on the affected areas. Though seeing Kalim with his teary red eyes and puffed cheeks was really cu-

Clearing his throat, he replied. "Indeed, it is. It is also safe to assume that person was the wounded student from last night." Judging from their casted arm, it looked to be the same area where they were injured.

Kalim stayed quiet for a while as he stared. When he faced him, Jamil decided he did not like that twinkle in those rubies of his. "I'm gonna go and say hi!"

"Huh? W-wait, Kalim! Ka-" It was too late. The happy-go-lucky boy already bounced towards them, leaving Jamil frowning with hands on his hips.

*****************************************************

"Hey, shortie! What's the hold-up?!"

"Hurry up and grab your grub, punk!"

"Unlike you, we got classes later. Step up, will ya?"

Ren winced at their grating shouts. Not that she could help it. With her left arm in a cast, Ren only had one arm to hold the food tray. She had to keep putting down the tray to collect the food before heading to the next selection. Not to mention, she had several bowls of soups and stews at the base, with plates of an assortment of meats and carbs stacked on top. Plus, there were sweet buns and other goodies wrapped in plastic above everything else. It was already hard enough to balance a tray already filled with food, and the one eating all of them was still not satisfied.

"Hurry up, human! There's still lots of food to get to! Next up, is that crème brûlée pudding over there!" Grim then hopped onto her head. "Oh! Oh! And that mixed herb grilled fish right behind us! They all look so good!"

"Grim, stay still!" Ren tried to move her head from his swaying tail. "We already have more than enough for both of us! Let's just-"

"Hey!" Just then, a tall student with brown, spiky hair came up to the two of them. Ren had a little peek to see the student was wearing a bright red vest underneath his blazer and a red-and-black ribbon sash on his left arm.

_ "I would like to be polite and face this person who's talking to me. If it weren't for this grey tail blocking my vision."  _ Ren gave a flat look at the moving appendage before blowing it, earning a "Nyack-!" from above.

Spiky-hair, however, was not impressed. "You think you're being funny, huh?! Trying to empty out the buffet table? Aren't you being disrespectable to us seniors, huh??!" 

He gave a hard shove to her shoulder, which Ren wavered back. Without her arms to balance out her weight, she tried going back a few steps before she tripped on her own feet.

"W-whoa- oof!" Until she bumped into something hard from behind. Whoever it was had their arm around her uninjured shoulder as they broke her fall. Thankfully and surprisingly, the food pyramid wobbled like jelly before returning to its precarious form.

"Careful there, now! Don't wanna waste that food pile you got there,  _ ah-haha! _ "

Ren looked up to see the most brilliant red eyes beaming down at her, more vivid than that redhead.  _ "Sparkling eyes... like rubies... White hair... no, greyish-white hair. Hair length quite short, choppy. Dark skin, either from a very sunny country, or he exercises a lot... Wearing a headband... And ornate accessories... Interesting... He looks about my previous height- Stop!"  _ She quickly stopped herself when Ruby-eyed tilted his head in confusion. She averted her eyes as she inwardly scolded herself for staring at the boy for too long.

"Hey, are you alright? What's wrong? Feeling unwell?" Ruby-eyed tried to lean into her face. Grim had already shifted to her shoulder, ears flattening at the boy with a hiss. 

"Stop that, Kalim. Can't you see he looks uncomfortable?" Ren paused at the new voice, and her honey eyes found a slightly taller student walking towards them with hands in his hoodie pockets. Unlike Ruby-eyed brimming with warmth here, this boy had a cold and calculative gaze when his eyes were aimed at her. 

Kalim, as he was called, did not look sorry, for he only smiled back at her. "Ah, right! Sorry about that,  _ ah-haha! _ "

_ "Dark skin... Slightly taller than Ruby-eyed or Kalim, give or take 7cm. Wearing ornate accessories as well, only in his hair... Greyish-black eyes. Jet black thick hair tied in a low ponytail, hair length reaching- Stop! I really should stop analyzing every single person I see. They're just students, for goodness sake...! And they're helping me! Maybe. Could be... What if it's a setup... No way, we just met for 1 minute and 30 seconds- STOP!!!"  _ Ren scolded herself in her head for letting herself going 'scoping' mode for that moment. She shut her eyes as she fervently shook her head.

Thankfully, Jet-black only looked at her weirdly before refocusing on Spiky-hair here. He raised his arm in a placating manner, "Apologies, seniors. We didn't mean to hold up the line."

Spiky-hair only glanced at their gold-and-scarlet red ribbon sashes before huffing. "Scarabians, huh? What do you mean by that?"

"He's saying, this kid was grabbing food for us too! And I think he got a bit carried away,  _ ah-haha! _ Right, kiddo?" Kalim added as he gave her a wink. Catching on to that, she understood what he was trying to do. Passing the tray to him, her free hand quickly clamped Grim's muzzle before he could retaliate.

"Yes." Ren played along, with the fire-rat clawing her hand. "That's what I was doing, and I think we have more than enough for everyone! So, without further ado, we'll be on our way."

She casually walked away with Jet-black guiding her to their table, Kalim following behind. Without looking back, she could feel the glares burning at her back. Though she did wonder,  _ "Why didn't they follow us? Instead, they just resumed grabbing their food." _ It was until they were out of anyone's sight that she finally released her grip.

"Puah-! I thought I was going to die..." Grim panted, his whole body heaving up and down before giving Ren the stink eye. "What was that for, human?! And we still have a lot more to- ouch!"

"Say one more time we did not have enough, and I will personally make sure you won't have any left." She could her eye twitch as she pinched his cheek roughly. 

Ren shook her head as Grim rubbed his cheeks while pouting. She then gave a small bow and smiled at the two students. "Thank you so much for just now. We'd probably be in more trouble if it weren't for you two. How can I thank you both?"

Jet-black and Ruby-eyed were taken aback at that, though the latter recovered quicker and flashed her his best smile. "No worries! Hey, you're a really polite person! Right, Jamil?"

"Still, I kinda feel bad for taking away your time. And you haven't taken any food for yourselves..." She paused before looking back at the still-standing Mt. Food-ji. "If you like, you can take some of our food as your lunch. It'll be my treat."

"WHAT??!" A certain fire-rat quickly floated in front and stretched his paws sideways, as if protecting his precious food stash.

"Whoa! You mean it?!" Ruby-eyed exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

Jet-black, however, narrowed his eyes slightly while crossing his arms. "That's awfully nice of you. Especially to someone you just met."

Ren only shrugged with a raise of her eyebrow. "Well, it's not like I can finish this whole mountain, even with Grim. Besides, we practically took almost one of everything from that buffet. I'm sure we have some of your favorites in there somewhere, so please go ahead!"

After a few minutes of wrestling and persuading with an angry cat, they finally sat down and started digging in. Having lunch with them was interesting. While Grim was wolfing down everything in sight, Ren had a bowl of vegetable stew, as instructed by her doctor to not eat hard food yet. She also learned that Ruby-eyed was known as Kalim Al-asim, who was eating his plate of demi-glace lamb ribeye while chatting away enthusiastically. Ren enjoyed talking with Asim as the boy had so much youthful energy with his boisterous actions. Jet-black, or Jamil Viper, on the other hand, ate his plate of mushroom and chicken cream pasta quietly. He did not speak much, only replying whenever Asim diverted the topic about him. Sometimes he reprimanded Asim to not talk while eating, though he received only a not-apologetic smile and continued regardless. It seemed Viper did not trust her yet.

"What?! Grim did what to you?!" She almost sputtered when Asim retold what happened last night at the entrance ceremony.

Asim nodded his head in resignment. "Yeah... It was such a chaotic night. Everyone was running around, there was fire everywhere..."

"I'm so sorry that happened... If I wasn't on the verge of death, I would've helped you with your burnt-ass!" Ren frowned at Grim. "Grim! You didn't burn that slack-ass's butt, but you burnt Asim's? What is wrong with you?"

Grim looked offended at that. "Hey! This has nothing to do with me! It's his fault for not running away from the Great Grim!"

"Same goes for slack-ass! He's only a few feet from you!"

"...Pfft..."

"It's okay! I'm alright. Sure, it stings a bit, but it's better than before!" Asim sweatdropped at their banter, hands raised to calm the small boy and creature.

"Yeah, but..." Ren furrowed her eyebrows before scratching her cheek with a finger. "You didn't do anything to deserve that ' _ roast-age' _ ... I could've helped back then... I didn't mean to be dying when that happened."

"...Pfft! Heh."

Both Ren and Asim paused as they looked at Viper, who was continuing eating his meal. But it looked like there was a small smile on his lips, his shoulders trembling. Suddenly, Asim slapped his hands on her shoulders with sparkles in his eyes. 

Ren looked very confused. "Err... Yes, Asim?"

"You just made him smile... You're now one of my best friends, Ren!"

"H-huh? What did I do?"

"Pfft!!" Viper, for some reason, was trying so hard not to snort his pasta out.

*****************************************************

Asim leaned back against his seat as he patted his stomach in satisfaction. "Whoo! I'm stuffed! The foods are good, though not as good as Jamil's cooking."

"Well, isn't that high praise." Ren raised an eyebrow while stirring her spoon in her already cold stew. On her left, Grim was snoring peacefully with a fully round belly after conquering his Mt. Food-ji.

Before Asim could continue, Viper cut in. "Kalim. Have you forgotten what's your next lesson?"

"Uhm... H-hold on a moment!" Asim sheepishly pulled out something from his pocket and started scrutinizing it. Viper furrowed his eyebrows at that but stayed quiet as he waited for his reply.

Ren gave a sideways glance at what he was holding while taking a bite. It looked like a piece of paper with messy handwriting, torn from a notebook of sorts. Unfortunately, the scribbles were indecipherable for her to read. Her eyes then flicked to Asim's lips, mumbling and muttering his notes. It was not perfect, but she could pinpoint out these words;

"...Co-curricular..."

"...with the first-years..."

"...make friends..."

Asim took a final once over and gave a firm nod. "Yup! I know what's my next lesson, Jamil! Thanks a lot!"

"As always." The latter sighed, "Though, you should've checked this on your own."

Leaning her cheek against her hand, she asked. "You guys have co-curricular activities?"

Asim was the first to nod with fervor, bouncing at her side. "Uh-huh! I'm in the Light Music Club! And Jamil's in the Basketball Club!"

She hummed, "And today's some kind of special day or something?" 

Surprisingly, Viper answered her question. "We will be recruiting the first-years to our respective clubs, so there will be an orientation after classes. You should consider joining one as well."

Ren blinked before realizing that these two may have the assumption she was one of the first-years.  _ "Maybe that's why they helped me... Though, I'm sure Asim just dragged Viper into it. Hmm... I guess there's no harm pretending to be one, at least until I get a job somewhere." _

With her mind made up, she gave an embarrassed smile to Viper. "I'll think about it, maybe when I'm fully healed. But I'm not really into these kinds of activities."

Viper only stared back before shrugging. "If that's what you wish. I suggest you'd better consider one soon, for choosing an activity is compulsory here."

She didn't even need to fake her groans while glaring at the ceiling. Viper said nothing afterward and got up to put their dishes and trays away. 

"Well! It's been fun talking to you, Ren and Grim! Next time, I'll invite you both to Scarabia! We'll have a celebratory banquet just for the two of you! And Jamil's cooking is the best, you'll not be disappointed!" Asim took her hand and gave her the brightest smile-  _ "His smile is so bright I need shades. Am I even indoors???" _

Ren returned it with a small smile of her own. "Sure thing, Asim. See you and Viper next time."

*****************************************************

"HE'S LATE!!!"

Ren looked back from the windows to see Grim angrily stomping his feet on the table. After Asim and Viper left the cafeteria, Ren finished her stew in one gulp before carrying the sleeping Grim to the Headmaster's office. He explained to her that the creature's and the redhead's punishment was to wash 100 windows throughout the academy. Ren's job was to supervise, and she cannot leave her post until both troublemakers finished their tasks.

_ "What do you think? Aren't I gracious and kind to you?" _ was what that Crow-man said right after she reluctantly agreed. She could feel her eye twitching as she recalled his oh-so-innocent smile. Ren had considered apologizing to him for causing a ruckus and burning the trees. This time, she stayed quiet and smiled through the pain as they were ushered out. And so here they were, waiting for the redhead to show up.

Grim suddenly froze with alarm in his eyes, tail stood up. "Hold on! He wouldn't just skip on us, right?!"

Ren hummed, the gears in her brain turning. If he were to ditch the punishment, that would mean he didn't think he deserved it. Ren had absolute confidence; that was what slack-ass would definitely think. How dare he?

She grabbed the broom beside her, which she retrieved from Main Street. She decided it would be her trusty weapon as she was magicless and possibly her future walking stick. "Well, let's go fetch him, shall we?"

"Huh? You know where he is?"

"Eh... Kinda." Ren pulled out a folded paper from her pocket. "Let's see, where would he be..."

"What's that paper for?" Grim flew closer, peering over her shoulder.

"Looks like a class timetable of sorts, a schedule. I snagged it from that slack-ass back then." Her eyes scanned the paper before sighing. "...Though it looks like this schedule is only valid tomorrow onwards."

"What?! That means that paper is useless!"

"Not really. This just means that slack-ass doesn't have any lessons for today." Ren placed a hand under her chin.  _ "Which means he doesn't have any reason to be late for his punishment. Since last night was the entrance ceremony, and tomorrow is their first day of school..." _

Ren then remembered the conversation she had during lunch. "It's possible he's doing that orientation for co-curricular activities now."

"Co-currie... what?"

"CCA, for short. Students have CCA as part of their curriculum, usually takes place after class." She placed the folded paper back in her pocket. "That also explains why the cafeteria is empty, save for some stragglers."

Grim perked up, immediately heading to the exit. "What are we waiting for? Let's go find that redhead-!"

"Hold on, Grim!" She quickly grabbed him by the tail. "And exactly where will we go to find him? We don't even know the locations of their CCA. It'll be like finding a needle in many haystacks!"

_ "Not to mention, we don't know which activity he'll choose..."  _ Ren sighed as she continued. "Since we can't find him during the orientation, we'll just have to wait for him when he returns to his dorm. That's probably the only other place he'll go after classes."

With that, Grim resigned and settled himself on her free shoulder, and they set off.

Ren just learned the only way for the students to retire to their respective dorms was the Hall of Mirrors. True to its name, it had seven mirrors and nothing else. The mirrors were about as tall as an average human height, just like the one in the entrance ceremony. Each had their own decorations, probably representing their dorms.  _ "Not like I have time to sightsee. I have a slack-ass to catch. And I need to be one step ahead, to capture any sort of criminal back in my world." _

She stared at the seven mirror pedestals, especially the one donned with roses and cards.  _ "Judging by the decorations, this is probably slack-ass's dorm. What with all the hearts and all. Now... how do I capture him?"  _ She shifted her head from side to side as she circled the rose-card mirror, analyzing its location.  _ "If I were to catch a runaway, I would stake out at a spot near the exit, which would be here. However, other than the mirrors, there aren't any pillars or corners to hide. Just a large wide space." _

_ "Maybe I can try hiding behind the mirror..." _ She narrowed her eyes as she searched behind the three-step platform, trying to find any minute space she could squeeze through. She stepped back, disappointment on her face.  _ "No luck. The platform is cemented to the wall. I can't squeeze through. And even if I managed to do so, how am I gonna catch him with just one arm? I shouldn't have faith in Grim. He'll just burn the whole place again." _

Grim just gave a flat look. "Did you really think you can hide behind the mirror?"

"It's worth a try. I don't see you trying anything, fire-rat." She leveled him with a glare, which earned her a hiss in return. She frowned as she scratched her forehead, racking her brain for another plan.  _ "Obviously, I thought this through. If only there's someone I can ask for help-" _

"Um... May I know what are you doing?"

Just then, Ren turned to see a student behind her looking very confused. What caught her eye was the student wearing a bright red vest underneath his blazer. And that red-and-black ribbon sash on his left arm. And there was a black spade mark under his right eye.  _ "Heart mark... spade mark... could they be from the same dorm?" _

Ren stepped aside. "Sorry about that. Just trying to catch a runaway student." 

"Runaway...?" There was confusion all over his face.

"Some boy made the Headmaster angry, and he has to do a punishment. But I'm pretty sure he's gonna try to ditch. So here I am, doing my job to make sure he won't get away..." She irately sighed, "Though I won't be making better success with just an arm. This is troublesome."

"Eh?! The Headmaster appointed you for such a task? But you're injured..."

"I know. Ingenious, isn't it? Such a  _ gracious and kind _ Headmaster we have, huh?" Ren sardonically smiled before grimacing. "Well, we gotta make do with what we have... I don't suppose you're gracious enough to help out, aren't you?"

The boy stepped back in shock. "M-me?!"

"Normally, I wouldn't involve a civilian with my problems. But..." Ren scratched her head, looking very troubled. "I'm not confident that I can catch him by myself. Not including fire-rat here, he'll just burn everything to the ground."

Ren decided to ignore Grim's "Hey!" while carefully observing the student's expression. The boy looked hesitant, but she pressed on. "I promise I'll make it worth your while. So... can you help me? Please."

"...Alright. What can I do to help?"

Ren smiled in return, a new plan forming in her head. "Right! Here's what we're gonna do..."

*****************************************************

"Wait up!" Grim yelled out from his favorite spot, Ren's head, with his arms raised.

"Give it up, slack-ass!" Ren shouted while waving her broom around, attempting to reach him with the extended distance it provided.

"As if I'll wait for you, I'm outta here!" That slack-ass hollered back, sporting that mischievous grin while running away from them.

Across the courtyard, the passing by students could see a particular redhead was currently being chased by an angry grey fire-rat and an injured small boy. More specifically, watching him avoiding and evading the petite boy's broom attacks like a spider monkey. The poor boy was panting and huffing, and it looked like he was suffering from his current injury as well. A rather weird chase scene out of context, they would think. 

Suddenly, the redhead made a hard turn to the right, barely avoiding her hard swing and sprinting towards the Hall of Mirrors. Ren gasped while giving chase, "Hey! Don't go there! We can't catch up if you do so!"

"Oh, is that so?" His smile grew wider. "Well, don't mind if I do!"

And with that, he sped up, leaving a dirt cloud behind him. Ren coughed when the dirt cloud went into her mouth. Yet, she could not hide the small smile on her lips and the singsong voice in her head.  _ "He took the bait~" _

Once the redhead sprinted headfirst into the Hall of Mirrors, Ren yelled out, "Now!"

Spade-boy, as she called him in her head, was positioned a few feet away from their dorm mirror. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he readied his Magical Pen in their direction. "Focus... and think of something heavy... Here it comes!  ** Come forth, something heavy! ** "

Suddenly, an iron cauldron appeared from above, and its shadow was covering the runaway. The redhead could only stare in horror before it was dropped unceremoniously on him, rendering him useless.

DONG!!

"Uwah-! What's this, a cauldron?!"

" _ Nyahaha! _ Look, human! That jerk is squashed like a pancake~! That's so lame,  _ haha! _ " Grim went ahead and laughed at his demise as he struggled from underneath.

Ren whistled as she jogged towards them, "Nice job, Spade-boy!"

Spade-boy flinched at that, cheeks reddening. "Eh?! H-how did you know my name?"

"Hmm? Oh, I meant the mark under your eye. By the way, this is very efficient." Ren smirked before she gave the cauldron a good whack.

DONGGG!!!

Slack-ass underneath could feel the vibrations from above, groaning as his ears were ringing. Ren leaned down to get a better look at him, smiling innocently. "Going somewhere?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man... I have to lot to cover to get to the Mines...
> 
> At least we get to meet the braincell boys, haha!


	11. Chapter Ten: Four Little~ Five Little~ Yup! Brain Is Empty!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, I want to upload this chapter on Idia's birthday (which I got his card with one pull!!! >.<) but it got pushed back hahaha... Happy Belated Birthday Idia!!! XD
> 
> So instead, this is my christmas present to you guys! Hope you guys enjoy~~
> 
> Also, is anyone aiming for Epel's SSR card? I told myself I'm gonna save up till Lilia's card or Malleus card... but... Epel... :')
> 
> Oh yeah, I want to give a little heads up with what's gonna happen next year. I might be able to upload one more chapter on Jan, after that I'll be busy with a new study programme which ends in 3 months-ish??? So don't be alarmed if the updates got too slow or anything! :D
> 
> Merry Christmas to everyone! Stay safe and healthy~

Prologue

Chapter Ten: Four Little~ Five Little~ Yup! Brain Is Empty!

"Urgh... How... How did you even find me?" 

Ren leaned against the cauldron, eyebrows raised at his question. "Do you want to know?"

The redhead looked baffled at that. "W-what kind of question is that?! You knew where I would be!" He then narrowed his eyes with suspicion. "Are you stalking me?"

There was a scoff with a roll of her eyes. "Please, you think too highly of yourself. We just met for a few minutes. And that scuffle hardly counts as a date, even."

She ignored his sputtering as she turned back to Spade-boy, who was watching with wide eyes. "Thanks a lot for your help. Wouldn't have done it without you."

He blinked twice before coming to her with admiration in his eyes. "That's amazing! I can't believe you managed to think of a plan within minutes! It wasn't even half an hour when he showed up, and you immediately knew where he would run to."

Ren merely shrugged her shoulders, "Once you memorized the routes, it's up to you to lead him to where the ambush is without letting him know."

"Still, I didn't expect a cauldron of all things to appear... Perhaps I overdid it?" Spade-boy frowned.

"Nah, you did fine. Slack-ass had it coming." Ren flashed him a genuine smile. "Though you can remove it now. He's not running anytime soon."

Spade-boy flushed pink before nodding, the cauldron bursting into sparkles with a flick of his pen. He politely extended his hand to her, introducing himself as Deuce Spade.

_ "Ohhh... so that's why he thought I knew his name. How cute and convenient." _ Ren gladly took his hand. "Name's Ren. Glad to be working with you."

Spade turned to the redhead, who was stretching his back groaning from the strain. "Still, what is the punishment? And exactly what did you do to be punished?"

Knowing Spade was referring to him, the redhead sulked while looking to the side. "The punishment is to wash a hundred windows. And I may or may not had a little scuffle with the furball and charred a  _ tinnyyy _ bit of the apple trees behind the Seven statues..."

"It's not just a  _ tinnyyy _ bit. The trees turned bald, burnt! Not to mention, they're this school's prized trees." Redhead glared at her when she imitated his tone. Ren merely raised an eyebrow.

"You WHAT?! No wonder the Headmaster went mad. That's definitely something people would get angry with!" Spade shook his head. "You just got into this prestigious school, and you're already making this much trouble on the first day..."

"Shut up..." The redhead crossed his arms and looked away, sulking. "Anyway, who're you?"

"Aren't you listening? Deuce Spade. Shouldn't you try to remember your fellow classmates' names...?" Ren closed her eyes, grinning at his silliness when he faltered to do so himself. "Umm..."

"You're one to talk, mate."

Spade crossed his arms, frowning. "A-anyway! If it's the Headmaster's order, then you should've taken it seriously."

The redhead sighed as he dusted himself off. "...Fine, fine. Let's get it over with then... wait."

Sensing his confusion, Ren realized something was missing. "...It's oddly quiet, isn't it?"

"Ah! That furball's gone!"

" _ Nyahaha! _ " And lo and behold, they all snapped to the entrance just in time to see the creature standing on his hind legs with a smug grin. "I'll leave everything to you then! Bye bye~!"

And off he went. Ren took a moment to process before her eyes widened in realization. "Ahhh, so that was his intention the whole time... Sneaky fire-rat." 

"That darned cat! He made me take his place!" The redhead scrunched his face as he urged, "Hey err... Juice?"

"W-who's Juice?! It's Deuce! Deu!"

"You're really bad with names, slack-ass." Ren sweatdropped. It was not that hard to pronounce his name, right? "Are you thirsty?"

"You're not any better, pipsqueak! And it's Ace! Ace Trappola! Get that in your tiny brain!" He pointedly ignored her last question before refocusing on Spade. "And you! You're partly responsible, so help us catch that furball!"

"Why me?!"

"Cos smart-ass here can't use magic, so he's useless! Come on!" He grabbed Spade by the arm and dragged him out of the room, leaving Ren processing his words.

She blinked twice and sighed before exiting the room. "Nice to meet you too, Trash-ola."

******************************************************

"Darn it! He keeps darting about!"

" _ Nyehehehe! _ Catch me if you can, suckers!"

"Getting on the chandelier is cheating!" Spade tightened his fists as the creature danced around above them. "We haven't even learned to fly yet... We need something to get up there, and also to catch... ...Ah-ha!"

Trying to follow her doctor's orders, Ren gave up chasing and ended up walking back to the cafeteria with little enthusiasm. Even without seeing the boys in sight, she could tell where they were judging from the commotion in that direction. What she did not expect was seeing Spade, probably the only student she could trust was planning to shoot that slack-ass as a human cannonball! He can't be serious!!

"SPADE!!!" Spade jolted from her shout. "Have you gone mad? You're gonna hurt him with that stunt!"

That got him hesitating a little, the redhead nervously looking back at them. "Then... what are we supposed to do?"

The small detective sighed, hand pressing her forehead. "For now, put the slack-ass down. No one's getting hurt on my watch."

"You're one to talk, smart-ass! I got hit by a cauldron, thanks to you!"

"Eh, takes one to know one, Trash-ola." Ren waved him off, ignoring his indignant "Oi!" before she looked back at the naughty fire-rat. Her eyes narrowed when his tail was wagging back and forth and sporting a devilish smile on his face.  _ "He's really enjoying this, huh?" _

As Spade focused on lowering the redhead yet failing, Ren barked, "Grim! Come back down here now!"

The creature merely made a face and stuck out his tongue. " _ Blehhh! _ No! Go away! I'm not washing any windows, and you can't stop the Great Grim!"

"You keep this up, and I'll use  _ you _ as a washcloth instead!" Ren bellowed out, her finger pointing at the fire-rat. "So help me, we're washing those darned windows if it's the last thing I'm gonna do!!"

The creature recoiled at the sudden change, but he refused to back down. "Never! Meanie human! Stupid henchman! I'm never coming down!!"

Her face stiffened in suppressed irritation before lowering her head. "...Alright."

"Huh?" Grim watched as the small human walked away from the chandelier, earning confused looks from the other two boys.

Ren turned around and undid her arm sling before retying around her shoulder, covering the scar. As she tightened the knot with her teeth, she flinched a little when she tied a bit too tight. But with this method, Ren would be able to maneuver without her arm in the way. With a huff, she glanced up and down while repositioning the confused boys' postures. As for Trash-ola, he was gently dragged down by the leg so Ren could reach for his hands. Once satisfied, she subtly pushed him back up and nodded before backtracking a few steps. Cracking her neck side to side, she crouched down to her legs and dashed towards him.

"O-Oi! What are you-" Spade cut short his sentence as she suddenly stepped on his cupped hands, sprang to Trash-ola's, and leaped onto its crooked branches. Surprisingly, the suspended object merely swayed to the side and did not falter from her jump. 

All the students, especially Spade and Trash-ola, were slack-jawed and wide-eyed at her reckless impulse. "EHHHH?!" They all exclaimed, even more so when they realized she was dangling from the chandelier.  _ "Exactly how light is this kid??!" _

Grim jolted from the sudden shake and quickly grabbed onto the nearest branch for support. But he instantly paled when he saw Ren appearing from the other side, looking at him with such feral intensity. There was an ominous aura around her as brown eyes shone with a dangerous glint. It was like facing a predator on a hunt. And the prey was him.

He gulped when she spoke in a low tone, almost growling. "If you're not coming down on your own... then I'll bring you down myself!"

"Gyaah!!!"

"GRIM!!!"

Soon, it became a wild goose chase. The onlookers followed them with their eyes as they circled around the chandelier, swiftly evading the light orbs and maneuvering around the twisty branches. Dust particles rained down from the hustle above, earning several sniffles and sneezes from any sensitive noses below. The students who were sitting below the chandelier got up from their seats, fearing for their lives, especially from the creaking sounds as the chandelier swung from side to side.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Finally, Ren managed to grab Grim by his hind legs. Which only prompted the latter to latch onto the branch tightly. "Grim, let go!"

"No!!"

Spade, who was looking up at the weird cat-and-mouse chase  _ (or in this case, midair 'ring around the rosie'), _ tightened his fist in suppressed frustration.  _ "At this rate, this chase is going nowhere! If only there's something that could stop the creature from running... like... like..."  _ His head was about to burst until he remembered something. "Ah, that could work." __

CREAK

"Let go!!!" 

"No!!" The duo started a little tug-of-war, the chandelier groaning with each push and pull. The petite child even resorted to using her whole weight to yank the creature off. 

"Man... what a mess. But at least I don't have to involve myself in this, they can solve it themselves. Now, I just need to get down from this..." The redhead looked at the side to see the other student was aiming his pen at him. "Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" 

CREAK

"Come on..." Ren gritted her teeth as she slowly leaned back for momentum. Screeching sounds resonated as Grim's claws were leaving scratch marks on the branches. "Let go!"

"Never!!!"

Spade readied his pen as he huffed. "Alright. When I throw you up there, grab them both. Don't miss, you hear?"

"Y-you're joking?! I thought that pipsqueak said to knock it off! W-wait!" His face paled when he realized the guy was serious, his long legs kicking in a frenzy. "You're not serious?! P-put that pen down! Put  _ me _ down!"

"Here goes...! Alley-oop!"

"WAIT-!!!"

With a final pull, Ren managed to yank the creature off from the crooked arms with a  _ yoink!  _ "Ha! Yes!" 

CREAK GROAN

"Whoa!" Though her joy was short-lived as she could feel the chandelier moving downwards. She looked up and noticed the screw at the canopy base was loosening. Though upon a closer look...

"AHHHH!!!!"

Her eyes widened in terror as she snapped to that shout to see Trash-ola flying towards them! She hesitantly stepped back before her foot fell through the gap between the arms. There were only a few seconds-  _ milliseconds _ to react before the majestic crown released itself from its hold.

CRASH

"S-Shit! I screwed up! I forgot about the landing!!" The dark blue-haired boy shrieked as he stared at the destruction in horror. "Crap! What about that guy? I didn't check if it's even safe for him!"

There was a cough afterward, a shadow emerging amongst the massive dust cloud. Revealing a disorientated redhead, holding his head in pain. "Urgh... I can't believe this."

Spade gasped before approaching the first-year carefully. "Are you alright? Did you manage to catch-"

"You... You BLUNDERING IDIOT!!!" He bit back his words when he saw the anger simmering in the other's eyes. "You're lucky I caught both of them before the whole thing dropped. If the Headmaster found out we busted the chandelier-"

"Fgynaaa...."

He froze at the weak voice before looking down. In his hands laid the fire-breathing creature, unconscious but still breathing. The confusion was evident in his tone when he uttered, "W-when did I...? I'm pretty sure I caught them both..."

"What in seven ravens?! Whatever happened here?!!"

The first-year jumped at the new voice. "Ack!! The Headmaster! When did he-?!"

"Exactly. What. Is. Going. On?!!" The Headmaster arrived at the cafeteria, and he did not look happy. The students slowly backed away from his menacing aura. His golden eyes glowered as he pointed at a familiar redhead with his cane. "You!!!"

"W-wait a minute, Headmaster! I can explain-!"

He stomped his cane to the ground, the echo silencing the entire area. "As if burning our apple trees isn't enough, you even destroyed our beautiful chandelier! I cannot overlook this anymore! You will be facing expulsion! Both of you!"

"Eh?! M-me?!!"

Just then, something caught Trash-ola's eyes as he flicked back at the chandelier. "P-pipsqueak...?"

The Headmaster followed his gaze and spotted a small figure lying underneath the fallen chandelier. His yellow eyes widened as he hurriedly walked over, carefully avoiding the broken glass. With a quick wave of his cane, the chandelier levitated and gently landed away from the unconscious figure. He gingerly carried the petite figure close to his chest, her head dipped at his shoulder.

"Young Ren?"

No answer. The two first-years peered over the Headmaster's shoulder nervously. Especially the redhead, he was clutching the creature tightly, hands trembling within the grey fur.

There was a short pause before he gently tapped her cheek. "...Young Ren?"

Her eyelids furrowed before opening slowly to reveal a pair of tired honey-colored eyes. It took a while before she asked weakly, "...Sir?"

"Thank the sevens..." He lowly muttered as he exhaled in relief. "Are you alright, Young Ren?"

She didn't reply immediately, her mind still muddled from the fall. When she noticed the fallen crown, she quickly remembered what happened and had a little panic attack. "Is anyone hurt?! What about those boys? Are they okay? There's Spade... and that redhead and-"

"Hush, hatchling. I'm aware of who you're referring to. They are unharmed." She felt an immense sense of relief from his words and slumped back onto his arm. She didn't notice the Headmaster was staring at her with an unreadable expression, a clawed finger on his chin as he grumbled till she caught the rear end.

"-Normally, a fall from that height shouldn't be... Yet, could it be...?" There was a frown in his mumbling before refocusing on her. "It would seem I have overestimated some calculations on my part. And for that, I apologize."

"...What are you-?" Before she could finish, he already stood up with her tucked in his arm. The two boys blanched and stepped back as the Headmaster turned towards them, golden eyes piercing into their very souls.

"Now... It would seem that expulsion is the only punishment for troublemakers, such as you two. Any pathetic excuses from your quivering lips,  _ students? _ " Ren could feel the clawed hand tightened as he forced each word with a tight smile. She regretted glancing up as jagged pearly whites were emerging from his dark-colored lips. Coupled with his glowing eyes and his masquerade crow mask, it was painting a terrifying picture and already etched in her head.  _ "Ohhhh boy... Mental note: Don't cross the crow." _

"Please! Anything but that!" Spade was the first one to recover from his shock. "I have to be at this school!"

"You have nothing to blame but your own idiocy."

"I will pay for any damages if I have to!"

The Headmaster merely tutted, shaking his head. "You do not seem to understand the situation you're in. This," He brought their attention to the debris, "is no ordinary chandelier. It is a magical chandelier, specifically crafted to burn for all eternity with these spherical orbs of light. A true masterpiece, as expected of a legendary master of magical tools. It has been entrusted to the academy since its very foundation..."

He paused to take a deep breath, "Considering its historical value, the price is no more than a billion madol. Can you pay for the damages, in full cost?"

"A... A billion madol?"

"But Headmaster! Can't you just fix it with magic...? It'll be done in a jiffy!" This time, the redhead spoke up with a nervous smile. But it disappeared quickly when the Headmaster solemnly shook his head.

"Not all magic can fix everything. Not to mention the magic crystal," Ren and the two first-years followed his cane to see there was indeed a large crystal. Well, what was left of it. "The heart of every magical tool has been completely shattered. No two magic crystals are the same. This chandelier will never be lit again."

"No way..."

"Crap. What am I doing? What am I going to tell Mom...?"

Ren's eyebrows furrowed as the boys lowered their heads in shame. She felt horrible for involving Spade in the first place, and he didn't deserve this treatment. Especially when she approached him for help. As for Trash-ola... Granted, she still didn't like him, but... But...

Oh, who was she kidding? None of them deserved this much of a punishment and paying that insane price was out of the question. She closed her eyes and sighed.  _ "I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" _

She weakly reached forward and pinched his sleeve, tugging it lightly. "Sir, can't you give them another chance?"

The Headmaster took a double-take at that. "I beg your pardon?"

"You..." Both boys were astonished by her question. 

She continued, "The chandelier just needs a crystal to work again, right? I'm no expert, but the structure looks alright, and it looks like only the crystal broke. Sure, no two crystals are the same. But there's gotta be another similar crystal out there, or a better one. If they manage to procure one, will you reconsider their expulsion?"

"But, Young Ren. That's..."

"I'll keep an eye on them, 'case you're worried they get into trouble again. Will that make you feel better, sir?" Ren softened her tone, hoping it could persuade the Headmaster. When he kept staring, she pleaded with a head bow. "Please, sir."

He didn't say anything, tapping the bridge of his hat with a serious expression. "...Very well. There is only one way to fix the chandelier-"

"What?!"

"Let me finish first." That got the boys to quiet down, and the Headmaster continued, "The previous magic crystal was mined in the Dwarf Mines. If we can obtain one of a similar kind as the original, repairing the chandelier should not be a problem."

"I will find that magic crystal! Please allow me to go!" Spade enthusiastically raised his hand up high.

"However, I cannot guarantee there will be any left. The mines have been closed off for a long time, and it may be exhausted of crystals."

"I'll do anything if it means not to get expelled!"

Ren gave a sideways glance at Spade when he made that declaration. She could already feel herself frowning.  _ "Let's hope it won't come to that extent..." _

"Very well. You have one night. Return with a magic crystal before the next sunrise, or return to your homeland forever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *planning next chapter* So... how do I write action scenes??? 
> 
> *inserts angry bird theme in head*   
> ...I don't know ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	12. Chapter Eleven: Seven Little~ Eight Little~ Wait, What Comes Next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How long is the prologue...??? *looks through wiki*
> 
> *looks at story drafts again*
> 
> And here I thought I'm nearing the end! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA XDD (ノ◇≦。)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter~~!

Prologue

Chapter Eleven: Seven Little~ Eight Little~ Wait, What Comes Next?

"Ouch!" Ren hissed in pain as her body instinctively recoiled before someone held her in place.

"Hold still, puppy. You are not going anywhere till I finish mending that scar of yours. Healing salve, cat."

"Hey! I'm not a cat!" Grim grumbled but listened nonetheless, grabbing an opened round metal container and plopped it in Crewel's extended hand. He then smeared the cream with two of his slender medical gloved fingers and-

SMACK

"Ah! Arghh...!!" She could feel her toes curling as Crewel practically slapped the cream onto the scar. 

"Hmph. Consider this as a penalty for making it worse." The alchemy professor mercilessly spread the ointment around the edges, leaving the sewn flesh untouched. "Honestly, of all the students, I expected you to be causing the least troubles. Exactly what were you thinking, pup? Jumping and falling from a chandelier?"

After the Headmaster gave his warning, he proceeded to carry Ren back to the infirmary. Grim sluggishly woke up from his slumber and was shocked to see Ren in Crowley's arms once more. He only calmed down when he was back in her arms. She felt horrible for disobeying her underage doctor's advice to steer clear of vigorous activities, trying to think of an apology in her head.

However, the one who opened the infirmary doors was none other than the alchemy professor Crewel, glaring at them with a murderous scowl. They froze for a moment, but the Headmaster recovered quicker, promptly dropping Ren off and hastily excused himself, leaving behind a trail of black feathers.

_ "Some Headmaster, indeed..."  _ Ren bitterly thought, hissing through her teeth when she felt a cotton pad was placed- smacked gently on her wound. "I just wanted to take a walk outside. I couldn't stay still... Didn't think it would turn out like this... And I'm not even a student..."

There was a deep sigh from behind. Crewel then expertly tore out some medical dressing to stick onto the sides of the cotton pad. "That may be so, but you're still under my care as a patient in this academy. If it weren't for that infernal creature-"

"Grim didn't do anything. I started the fight, so it's right for me to receive the punishment." Ren looked back at him with a frown. Crewel narrowed his eyes, and they both stared at each other for a while. Even Grim could feel the tension around them, nervously glancing back and forth.

Crewel was the first to break the silence. "Well, as my patient, I do implore you to heed my warning and not ruin my precious handiwork."

Ren almost scoffed with a smile, "No promises, professor-"

" _ Master. _ Master Crewel. You shall address me as such, like a good puppy." And that smile deflated immediately, her face scrunching with obvious disgust. Even as he finished with the dressing, she refused to look at him, for she knew he would be waiting with anticipation. Ren could feel her chin being grabbed and was forced to face him, smirking as he leaned forward. "Well? I'm waiting, puppy."

She could feel herself sneering in irritation. "As a patient, I have a right to complain to my doctor, and I should sue you for harassment. And since I'm not a student, your orders do not affect me."

Crewel merely raised an eyebrow at that before his eyes lightened up with devious glee. "Very well. Let's make a deal. If you manage to live through the day unscathed, then I will not press any further. However, if I see one stitch out of place from my handiwork, you will address me as  _ 'Master Crewel'  _ till I say so."

He then released her chin, disposed of his medical gloves, and fetched his furry coat from the office chair while relishing the pure shock on her face. "Well, then. I must be going. I need to attend an important meeting with the staff. Good day, miss Ren."

"W-wait, you can't be serious? Professor? Professor!" He ignored her and walked out of the infirmary, the main doors closing on her as she yelled out,  _ "CREWEL!!!" _ in anger.

SLAM

Ren could not believe it, scoffing in disbelief as she sat back on the bed.  _ "Who does he think he is?! I should've punched him when I-"  _ She quickly bit her lips before forcing herself to take deep breaths. She should not think that way. He saved her from last night, so she should be grateful instead. Though now, that only left a sour note on her tongue when she thought back. 

Shaking her head, she pressed her hands together and went to look at herself in the mirror. Staring at her reflection, she must admit the alchemy professor did a good job. Instead of casting her left arm in a sling, he wrapped the dressing around the scar, covering most of her shoulder while leaving space for her arm to rotate. Not to mention, he even gave some bindings for her bosom, though she felt it was unnecessary. She didn't really understand why the Headmaster and the others were surprised that she was female. But that was not important now, so she shoved that thought to the back of her mind.

As Ren contemplated, she decided wearing patient scrubs was not ideal nor practical to the mines. Perhaps changing back to her old clothes would be better. The Headmaster did give her some new clothes, but she didn't want to dirty them immediately. Especially if she was going somewhere muddy.

She then grabbed her folded clothes, including the ceremonial rode, from the drawer and unraveled them on the bed. A simple dark grey T-shirt, a pair of dark blue stretchable jeans suitable for running, and an oversized dark blue blazer were what she wore during that ambush. The dark tones allowed her to blend in the shadows during stakeouts or investigations. Of course, they were now a tad too big on her... wait.

Lifting the dulled clothes, she noticed something puzzling. Her clothes were an exact fit with her current small build, even her brown hiking boots that were perfect for chasing runaways uphill.  _ "My clothes... shrunk?"  _

This didn't make any sense. Though it did answer a few of the detective's questions, the reason why she only stumbled with the ceremonial robe and not her own clothing. She also noticed both her shirt and blazer had a hole at the back. "Shucks... guess I'll have to sew it back later."

"Hey, Grim. Can you be a lookout for me?" Ren put her clothes back on the bed. "Don't want the same accident to happen again..." 

The creature rolled his eyes, already floating towards the main doors. "I'm only doing this for tuna, y'know."

"Of course." Ren grinned as she shrugged her opened scrubs shirt carefully before she accidentally bumped the bed, the blazer sliding to the ground. 

CLING

Ren paused at that, her hands halted from pulling down her bottoms. She slowly turned and walked towards her blazer and gently picking it up. There she noticed the source of that noise under it, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  _ "That's strange... This is supposed to be back at home, in my room. How did it...? Why is it... here??" _

******************************************************

"Well, don't you look sad and depressed?" Trash-ola raised an eyebrow when the detective walked in, the fire-breathing creature resting on her shoulder. "You don't even have a student's uniform. How lame is that?"

The two students waited for her to arrive at the Mirror Chamber. Ren wore her shirt and jeans and changed her slippers to her boots. She ignored his remark before nodding to Spade, who responded back. "So this is the 'Gate' we need to go through?" She eyed the mirror with skepticism, restraining her urge to poke it again.

Trash-ola groaned, "Why did something like this happen to me? Today's not my day..."

"Now isn't the time for mumbling! Let's go!" Spade stepped in front of the mirror with his hand extended,  ** "Oh, Dark Mirror! Light the way to the Dwarf Mines!" **

Almost immediately, the mirror flashed white before showing an image of a forest with a dirt path. Though upon closer inspection, Ren could see the leaves on the trees swaying gently, could hear the faint gushing of a nearby brook, and could smell the crisp scent of pine wood. She stared in awe and almost gasped in shock when the mirror enveloped their bodies as they went through it with ease, leaving behind ripples on its surface.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up, slowpoke!" The redhead looked back and only gave an annoyed scowl when the small detective did not make a move. Not even when Grim got impatient and sprang on without her.

That made her frown, crossing her arms. "Easier said than done. You don't go through mirrors back in my wor-" She cleared her throat, "...hometown."

"What kinda rock you've been living under, mate?!" Her eye twitched in irritation at his remark but kept quiet.

_ "Be careful, Ren," _ She told herself.  _ "They don't need to know that you're not from here-here. Yet." _

This time, Spade turned around and gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Ren. You might feel a little tingly, but it's nothing dangerous. Come on."

"Hurry up, human! If the Great Grim can do it, so can you!" The fire-rat rolled his eyes, standing on his hind legs with hands on his hips.

Despite feeling suspicious, Ren moved closer to the mirror as the soft cool breeze touched her cheeks. She cautiously extended her hand forward and watched as the reflective surface swallowed her hand. It felt cold and tingly. After she experimentally rotated her wrist and flexed her fingers, she had deemed it safe and stepped through the mirror with a grunt. 

"Took you long enough." The redhead sighed before sporting a mischievous smirk. "You're just scared, aren't you?"

Ren didn't answer him, for she was too focused on the surroundings. She snapped her head around, surprised at the rustling dark green foliage. Her ears could pick up the babbling brook very clearly, along with the occasional chatter of the woodland critters. She looked down at her feet, feeling the soft and crumbly dirt path beneath her boots. It took a while before she spoke up, "I'm... outside?"

A scoff erupted from the redhead. "Of course, you are. How slow can you get?"

SWOOSH

Just then, Ren turned back to see the mirror that was showing the Mirror Chamber was slowly shrinking in size before bursting into gold sparkles and vanished.

"Our exit is gone!" Ren shouted in alarm.

"Don't worry," Spade spoke up. "It'll appear once I say out the spell again. It's very convenient for us to return to NRC from anywhere."

Though he looked at the dirt path with a frown. "I know you're probably overwhelmed by this, but we need to press on. We need to get that magic crystal, and we're nowhere near the mines."

That made her snapped out of her stupor, shaking her head. "Y-yeah, of course. Lead the way, Spade."

******************************************************

It was very awkward and eerily quiet as they walked deeper into the forest. Ren looked over to see Grim yawning from her shoulder, and in front of her were the two first-years. Trash-ola had already removed his blazer and hung from his arm, grumbling about the dense humidity of the tall greens. Whereas for Spade, he ignored the redhead while walking, though she could see the whining was getting on his nerves.

Perhaps she could ease him a bit. Clearing her throat, she stated. "It sure is quiet in these woods."

Looking back, Spade gave a small smile. "Well, it is known as Silent Woods for a reason."

"Oh? You know of this place?"

"Who wouldn't?" Surprisingly, the redhead answered her. "Everyone knows that the Silent Woods is where the Dwarf Mines is located and that it was famous for its abundant magic crystal mining. I still find it surprising you don't know all this, pipsqueak. You're one of a kind."

Ren gave a deadpan look at his playful smirk. "Yeah, yeah. Because I'm  _ soooo~ _ rare, I'm such a gem."

"Pfft. Idiot." Grim snorted at his direction, which he retaliated with an "Oi!".

"But that was in the old days. Back then, the Dwarf Mines was such a prosperous place. Now..." Spade shook his head. "We should continue on."

As they followed the dirt-trodden path, they found an old wooden sign up ahead with two planks at its sides. One was pointing to the left and one to the right. It was a bit hard to read, for the sign planks were covered by several boards with writing that either said  _ 'GET OUT' _ or ' _ STAY AWAY' _ . With the boys' help  _ (Spade mostly, and thankfully not Grim's as he suggested to burn them) _ , they managed to yank the nailed boards off. 

They could clearly see the left plank was labeled  _ 'Dwarven Cottage'  _ and the right one was  _ 'Dwarf Mines',  _ and Spade's expression brightened a little. 

"Right! According to this sign, we should go to the right!" He was about to dash ahead before Ren tugged his shirt and gently tugged him back. He looked stunned when he was pulled back, and even more so when she pointed in the opposite direction.

"I think we should go left." She held a hand up when Spade was about to protest, "Since we're going to the mines, we'll need some equipment first, like pickaxes or shovels. We might need headlamps or oil lamps as well. If what you said about the mines is right, likely, there won't be any electricity in there. Let alone any people to guide us."

"Electricity...?" Trash-ola tilted his head at the odd term.

" _ Nyaha! _ The Great Grim can just light up our way when that happens!" Grim proudly stood on her head, chest puffed up with his arms raised.

"That's true. Clever thinking, fire-rat." Ren smiled as she scratched his ears, which he tried to bat her hand away but failing.

"...I still think we should just head to the mines immediately-"

"How are you going to dig up the crystal?"

"W-well... I can use my magic for that!"

"And if it runs out? I can't imagine you'll be pumping out magic like a steamroller."

"..."

"Are you planning to punch the rocks?" Ren teased with a raise of an eyebrow, and her eyes widened when Spade stayed quiet at that. _ "You can't be serious..." _

She glanced at the redhead, which he only shrugged his shoulders. When she received no reply, she continued, "With that being said, shall we head to the cottage?"

******************************************************

"The cottage looks... deserted. The people living there must've left the place ages ago." The redhead stated as he looked at the said cottage. It looked like a typical quaint cottage, built for warmth and home-ness. 

However, there was something strange about the house. Ren narrowed her eyes as she carefully analyzed the exterior.  _ "The moss and ivy are already creeping on the walls. It does look abandoned, probably due to the mines' downfall. But the windows are broken, smashed even. The door is almost off its hinges. And there's even... what's this?"  _

Grim shivered, curling into her neck further. "Err... Feels like something is gonna jump out, y'know... H-hey! What are you doing, henchman?!"

She slowly crouched down by the door, staring at the dark marks staining the curb.  _ "Is this... mud? Soil from the ground? The pigment looks darker, though... Is it juice? It doesn't look like a splash. It's more straight, angular. Like something being dragged against the ground."  _ She tentatively touched the marks, feeling the consistency between her two fingers and thumb.  _ "It's... thick, gooey, and slightly sticky. The edges of the stain are already dry. Judging how small the soft center is, this took place a while back. But what is this? It's not dirt. " _

"Hey, pipsqueak. What are you-"

"It's nothing," She got up after smearing the substance(?) on the grass, reaching for the rusty doorknob. "Let's head in."

CREAKKKK

It was surprising to see the wooden door still on its only hinge, swinging slowly and ominously to reveal a thick veil of musty fog. The group of four had started coughing from the odorous mixture of mold, dust, and... And there was... something else. Something so rotten one would gag in reflex. It was so pervasive they had to use their sleeves as a filter. The small detective lifted her shirt to her nose while poor Grim was pinching his sensitive snout. The interior was worse than the outside. The wooden ceilings and floors were caked in dust, cracks were apparent along the walls. 

But it was not the dust that got Ren all stiff and wide-eyed. There were holes on the floorboards, broken pieces of wooden cabinets. Even the fireplace was destroyed. She was staring at the broken furniture in horror, specifically, the dining table area. It was... how should she put it? A mess. A horrible mess. Like a hurricane of blades or claws went through it. The small chairs were strewn about, sharp slits carved into the wood. The worst of it all was the table. A single pickaxe was wedged into the cedar plank that was graffitied with several long and deep marks. And that dark stain. It was  _ everywhere,  _ the dining area, fireplace, stairs... Some were merely small splatters or droplets, but the main center area was at the 

The group stood there in shock. None of them wanted to go near that... table massacre. Eventually, the boys couldn't handle the smell and sight and ran out of the house with Grim in tow.

"What the hell was that?!" The redhead's panicked voice sounded muffled through the cement walls.

"W-was there a fight??!"

Only Ren stayed put as she processed the whole scene. She took a deep breath as she steeled her nerves.  _ "This isn't a fight. It's a crime scene." _

"Hey, human! Say something!"

Ren didn't answer, for she took a step forward, her hand shakily reaching for the stained table. 

"No! What are you doing? Don't touch it!!!" Sounded like someone took a peek.

If she could, she wouldn't want to do it either. But she was a detective. She had done this before many times, though it was advised she should be wearing gloves. And she needed to confirm whether the patch was fresh or dry.  _ "But why am I feeling so nervous...?" _

"DON'T DO IT!!!"

THUD

All froze as her hand fully touched the black surface. She stood there for a minute before her fingers moved along the wood grain and finally exerted some pressure as an attempt to rub off the stain. "It's dry..." Her eyes closed in relief, releasing the breath she was holding. "It's dry... that means this was done a long time ago..."

_ "It means the culprit shouldn't be anywhere near us... that's good news. Very good-"  _ Her thought was cut short as her eyes caught something on the floor, what looked like to be... a trail? She slowly followed it with her gaze till it cascaded down the dining platform.

Headed towards the door. 

And curved to the left outside.

Her eyes widened once more as she uttered one word. "...Crap."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh~ We're at the cottage and we have a mystery on our hands! xDD
> 
> Should I add a horror tag on this??? I don't think it's that scary... but what do you guys think?
> 
> Also, I think I might've underestimated my study schedule a bit haha... it might take longer than 3 months...
> 
> But maybe when I'm destressing, I might write small oneshots in the other fanfic instead so who knows!


	13. Chapter Twelve: Ace Of Spades With Lives At Stake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GASP I managed to upload on Malleus' bday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
> 
> Though I'm still waiting for you to come home... :'(
> 
> Edit: WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T PUBLISH IN THE FUTURE- oh right, time differences 🤦♀️
> 
> Sorry, I got upset for no reason... 😅
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter~!

Prologue

Chapter 12: Ace Of Spades With Lives At Stake

"...Crap."

That was all she could say at that moment. Whatever happened here, whoever did this dark explosion could be out there. Ren shook her head, telling herself not to make assumptions. She tried to rack her brain for any hypothesis, yet each one got debunked afterward.

"Could this be... blood?"  _ Even dried blood doesn't look this dark. It's more blackish. _

"Maybe... paint?"  _ What kind of paint bomb can burst a table? Maybe a huge one, but it'll splatter the whole house too. Yet, the splatters have mainly centered the table. _

"If it's not blood nor paint, then... ink?" She glanced around the interior once more.  _ "Ink seemed like a probable answer. Not even water is enough to remove such stains. _ _ However, this was not enough to explain the woodware tragedy. Based on the broken furniture, the force of impact originated from the table..." _

Before she could delve further, she quickly walked away and went up the stairs. She cannot stay here any longer, and they did not have a lot of time. They came here for supplies, not investigating a possible murder scene.

******************************************************

The two boys stood outside, not daring to go inside. Finally, the little kid came out of the house with something heavy in each hand. Somehow, they both felt strangely relieved that the small detective was unharmed.

"Hey. You feeling okay, human?" Grim ran up to her and landed snugly on her shoulders, occasionally rubbing her hair. 

Ren scratched his ears in return, "Yeah, I'm alright. I found a usable pickaxe and an oil lantern. The rest were either broken or rusty."

She tossed the said pickaxe to Spade. "I'll hold onto the lantern just in case."

And so they continued to the mines. The walk was awfully silent, and Ren could only hope that was it. As their feet brought them closer to the mines, she could not help but look at the ink stains covering the dirt path. The warning alarms were going off in her head, telling her not to go on further and that the markings would reach the mines. But that was not all. At the corner of her eye, she noticed there were claw marks on the nearby twisty trunks. Huge slashes had cut into the wood, revealing the aged grains within. Even if the boys lift their heads a bit as they dragged their feet, they probably could not notice anything at all.

Though she had to admit, the boys took that furniture massacre very well. Granted, no mangled corpses or random skeletal parts were lying about, yet she knew a few officers were squeamish at the sight of blood back in her world. During her previous investigations, she was one of the few who were brave enough to investigate the bodies and even volunteered to deliver them to the morgue for autopsies. 

Ren blinked as she thought back,  _ "Now that I think of it, I was the only one delivering the bodies... Or rather, they volunteered me. Did they purposely do that to avoid touching them? Huh. Was that why Pa got mad at them that one time? When I had to deliver a whole mountain of bodies??"  _ She scratched her head as she tried to remember what happened-

"Whoa... that was a mess." Spade broke the tense silence. "I thought that family left their home 'cos of the mines... but now, I'm not sure."

She noticed his hands were trembling. If anything, she hoped these boys would not see that again. "I'm sure the family's fine."

That only made him furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean by that? You can't possibly know what happened."

"No, I don't know what happened." She sighed, "But experience has told me that they're safe and away from that... mess. Don't worry too much about it."

He still looked confused, but his hands were no longer shaking. Ren tried to pat his shoulder, though she could only reach his arm instead. "Let's focus on the crystal, rookie."

******************************************************

The Dwarf Mines. It was hard to find since the detective had an impression of a deep cavern. Yet the mines were hidden in plain sight, the entrance was built- carved under an ancient tree with its roots wrapping along the rocks. If it were not for the small-and-obvious red arrow sign and the easy-to-spot cart tracks, they would be circling the forest for hours.

Ren frowned from where she stood. Just as she thought, those same black markings continued into the mines. And it was the same as those trees; the slashes made their way to the dirt ground and the surrounding rocks. Perhaps the mines were not abandoned, after all, housing an ink-loving monster instead.

"Are you sure you want to enter the mines?" Ren asked, gaining the boys' attention. "I don't think those dark stains are a good sign to go in."

"What are you talking about?"

Huh? Confused, she looked at them weirdly. "What am I talking about? I mean, those ink stains on the ground-"

"Huh? There's nothing on the ground." The redhead looked at her weirdly. "Are your eyes going, pipsqueak?"

She turned to Spade, who shook his head. "I don't see anything too, Ren. Maybe it's just your imagination."

_ "Wait. The boys can't see the stain marks?" _ Ren couldn't believe what she heard.  _ "It's all over the entrance! Why can't they see it?!" _

"Then, can you see that big black patch back at the cottage?"

"Huh? Was there?" Trash-ola looked up as if trying to remember, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, I was kinda spooked from that broken table, and the smell suddenly got fouler... but I didn't see any black patches."

_ "Does that mean, whatever is lurking in there..." _ Ren paled, realizing she was alone in this battle.  _ "...only I can see it?" _

"A-are we going into that dark cave?!" Grim gulped from his spot, bringing her away from her thoughts.

"What's wrong? Feeling scared already?" The redhead beside her gave a mocking grin. "Haha-ouch!"

He cut off his sentence as he felt a jab to his side. He looked down to see Ren glaring daggers at him. "Watch your mouth, Trash-ola. No one asked for your opinion."

"Hey! I'm stating the facts!" Trash-ola huffed in annoyance. "Speaking of a foul mouth, you're no better pipsqueak. What's with this obvious bias with me and that other dude?"

"Oh?" Ren answered dryly. "What makes you think you deserve my nice words? I don't waste my limited collection of praises on people like you."

"Ghk! Why you-"

"Enough!" Spade reprimanded them. "This is not the time! Don't forget why we're here!"

"That's right! And I'm not scared at all!" Grim readjusted from her shoulder to her head, grey cheeks puffed up. "The Great Grim is leading the way! Onward, human! Mush, mush!"

"Sure, sure..." She then lifted the oil lantern before shutting her eyes tight, "Will the Great Grim light our way then?"

"Heh! Who do you think I am? Here goes-!"

Fwoosh~

_ "Oh? It sounds softer than the other fires he made..." _ Ren blinked before bringing down the lantern to see a surprisingly normal-sized blue flame in the burner. "Grim, this is...?"

"The Great Grim takes good care to his henchman! This way, you don't need to worry about big fires!"

"Grim..." She could feel a small tug at her heart. It didn't remove that lingering fear from that fact there might be a crazy ink-loving psychopath in there, but it was enough to calm her nerves. "You deserve five tuna cans when we get back."

" _ Nyaha! _ Alright!"

Spade blinked at that. "Ren? Do you perhaps have a problem of fires?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention I'm diagnosed with pyrophobia." She scratched her cheek, ignoring the shocked expression on their faces. "So... if you ever need to resolve to explosives, tell me beforehand so that I can use you both as my human shields."

"EHHH??!"

"Or you can leave me there while you run away for your lives. I shall surrender to my cursed fate, to go all up in flames." She shrugged resignedly, hand placed on her chest. "You might hear my guttural screams and shouts begging for help, but please don't stop for me-"

"Alright! Alright! We get it!" The redhead had his hands outstretched, telling her to stop. "No fires! Geez!"

"Y-yeah..." Spade looked away while covering his mouth. "We'll be there to... pfft- help you with anything fire-related."

_ "Maybe that's a little over the top..." _ Ren bit her lip, maintaining her composure.  _ "But at least the boys are less tense than before. They don't need to worry about whatever is in there. When that happens, I'll be there to get them out." _

******************************************************

She had to admit, the mines were beautiful. Breathtaking. The long tunnels were enormous, with walls stretched till you could not see the end. Using Grim's blue fires illuminating from the lantern and his ears, it gave off an ethereal ambiance in the cave. Inside the cavern walls, gemstones or various shapes and sizes wedged in between the cracks. The detective had never seen this many crystals and quartz in her life. "What  _ 'exhaust of crystals' _ did that Crow-man mean? There's loads of them!"

"Yeah, but they're not fit to be a magic crystal." The redhead sighed, bringing his hands over his head.

"Indeed." Spade reached out and plucked some small red quartz, bringing it closer for her to see. "As you can see, this little quartz can generate some light. But after a while, the light distinguishes over time."

Just as he said, the tiny light started to flicker before going out, revealing a shoddy piece of rock instead. Ren was surprised at that. Spade let it slid off his hand before grabbing another ore and repeated the process. "This is why the mines went out of business. These ores are too weak to contain any magical energy. Whereas all the capable magic crystals were exhausted due to over mining to hit the high demand for it."

"Well, these rocks may earn some profit in some lady's jewelry, but no one wears those anymore," Trash-ola added. "Nowadays, everyone wants a super fancy magical tool for themselves."

"And magical tools need magic crystals..." Ren nodded her head, listening to their explanation. "It's so different from where I was from. Back home, people would go nuts for these. Since we have no need for fancy magic crystals, I reckon these little stones will be more than enough."

"Wow. I've never heard of such a primitive hometown like that. Where exactly are you from?"

Ren froze at Trash-ola's question. She gave away more than she could chew. Her composure faltered as she tried to evade the topic. "W-well... I-uhm... Err..."

"Shush! Wait."

Both snapped to Spade, who already brandished his pen and in a fighting stance. Ren's ears picked out a sound from the dark tunnels, she subtly moved her arm in front of the redhead.

"What? I'm getting something out from pipsqueak here-"

**_ "Heehee! Our first visitor for so long~!" _ **

**_ "Come, come~ Make yourselves at home... Heehee!" _ **

**_ "FOR ETERNITY!!!" _ **

"AHHH!!! GHOSTS!!" Both the students and creature shrieked. 

There they were, two ghostly figures with a blue tint in them floating up and down in midair. Both had dark droopy eyes with a big smile on their faces. They were wearing dark blue cloaks tattered at the seams. The strange group of kids was trembling, shaking in their boots.

"Whoa! Ghosts!!" Well, all except for one. Ren was where she stood, looking up with sparkles in her eyes. Compared to all the horror she had witnessed and experienced, the ghosts seemed absolutely charming and looked as if they came out from old cartoons she used to watch.

**_ "Hmm? Aren't you scared of us, kiddo?" _ ** The smaller ghost floated closer to her face with a sinister grin.  **_ "Aren't you afraid that you'll be locked in here for the rest of your life?" _ **

"Why would I be? I've never seen one this up close!" The strange short kid had such a big smile on his face. "We detectives also handle cases related to superstitions and spirits, but they always end up cold 'cos we can never solve them!"

"Ghosts are so elusive, be it they're victims, culprits, or witnesses! They can disappear and appear at will! Not to mention, you're leagues better looking than some corpses I've seen. Teach me your intangible ways, you fine sirs!" They had to admit, this was the first time a human said such things to them, albeit a little twisted.

"What are you doing? They're ghosts!" The redhead hissed at the small boy, who blinked back in confusion.

**_ "Heehee! We've never been complimented like this before!" _ ** The rotund ghost bounced around happily. Upon a closer look, their cheeks seem to be... pinkish?  **_ "I do think we're kinda stumped on this, kiddo!" _ **

**_ "You really should be careful giving out praises to beings like us," _ ** The smaller ghost remarked, looking away with flushed cheeks.  **_ "What happens if we're gonna hurt you, kid?" _ **

Ren smiled back, which the ghosts were surprised. "No, you won't. You're the ones who put up the boards back at the signpost, right?"

**_ "H-how do you know that?!" _ **

******************************************************

"Hey... This isn't just me, right?" The redhead deadpanned as he watched this unbelievable scene unfolding.

"Yeah... I'm looking at it right now." Spade crossed his arms, his fingers impatiently tapping against his sleeve.

"Ghk... I don't like that they look so happy when talking!"

The students could not believe that the little tyke, a non-magical human, was happily and excitedly interacting with ghosts! They even taught him about several greetings in the Dwarf way!

Ren tried using their greeting, "Heigh-ho! I have a question to you fine sirs up there!"

**_ "Heehee! Anything for the polite boy down there!" _ ** The two ghosts swiftly disappeared before reappearing by her sides, scaring the boys and creature.

**_ "Come, come!" _ ** The rotund ghost placed his hand over his nonexistent ear.  **_ "What is it that you wanna know, kiddo?" _ **

Taking this chance, Ren whispered, "Do you know who or what made these black markings on the ground?"

Suddenly, the ghosts froze. Their nearly transparent bodies almost stopped floating, and they looked back in shock.

**_ "B-black markings...?" _ ** The rotund ghost stammeringly whispered back.  **_ "What black markings?" _ **

She tapped her boot on the now thin trail. "This. Do you know whether whatever made it is still here?"

**_ "Y-you can see it??" _ ** The smaller ghost floated closer, almost covering her view from the boys.  **_ "You truly can see them?" _ **

_ "Judging by their reactions... They've confirmed my suspicions. " _ She narrowed her eyes slightly.  _ "And they're afraid of it." _

"Hey! What are you whispering about?" The redhead called out, but it only made the ghosts huddled closer to her whispering.

Spade looked a little irked, "We don't have time to mingle with ghosts! Let's go!"

"...Hey. I've been keeping quiet bout this, but don't you dare order us around. If it weren't for you doing something so stupid, we wouldn't be here in the first place!" The redhead scowled.

"Oh, yeah? You think I'm the cause of all this?" Spade retorted back, "Who's the one who ditched his window cleaning?"

"It's because that furball burned down the apple trees!"

"Hey! Don't put this on me!" Grim puffed up his cheeks, the fires in his ears glowing brighter. "You made fun of me and my human's injury! He's not faking it, ya dum-dum!!"

"You what?!!"

"Yeah," Ren continued where they left off, ignoring their squabbling for now. "You still haven't answered my question. Do you know if it's still here?"

**_ "Between you and me, you should get outta here now." _ ** Now the rotund ghost had a dark look in his eyes.

"We can't. We're looking for a magic crystal this big." Ren gestured the size with her hands. "If you can guide us to that kind of crystal without provoking whatever monstrosity in here, we'll be out of your hair immediately."

**_ "That would be impossible!" _ **

"And why is that?"

GROANNNN

Ren and the ghosts froze before snapping to the dark tunnel ahead of them. The transparent figures quickly floated away and were swirling in a panic circle around her.

**_ "Shucks! We've been so distracted, we didn't realize it's back! It's that thing again!" _ ** The rotund ghost was the first to dissipate into the rocks with his companion.

**_ "Quick, kiddo!" _ ** The smaller ghost popped out of the rock, showing only his panicked expression.  **_ "Run, or you'll be killed in seconds!"  _ ** was what he hollered before diving back into the rock.

GROAANNNN URGHHH

Ren straightened her back as the groans echoed through the dark tunnels. Her nose flared up, and she quickly covered it when that awful stench came back.  _ "It's the same from the cottage! Only this time, it's more foul and inky." _

"Guys..." She tried to get their attention, but they were still arguing. "GUYS!"

"WHAT!" The three of them yelled in response.

.͚̙̘̜̺͈͂̃͑̇̂̾͞.̧͙̬̲̬͉̺̇̀̑̾͊̚͜͢͝͝.̴̫̱̗̜̣͍̗̺̟̰̾́̉̿̓̒͐̽̽̍o̸͕̝̦̳͉̙͐̄͐͊̓͋͒͌͆̑͜ͅn̸̠̪̤͕͖̖͉͂̀̽̏͑'̢̪͈̮͕̻͕͚̺̽́̒̓̆ţ̶̳͙̲̙̖̂̄̄͗̔̃̋͊͞ͅ .̶̳̮͚͉̞̖̲̃̍̍̆̽̋́͜͠.̸̬͓̯͉̲̑͗̐͌͆͋̓.̡͈̝̟͈̎̆͂̆̃͝͝͡ͅi̗̬͓̤̤̿͂̏̄͑͢v̴̧̡̥͉̯̠̏͐̓̌͠͡e̵̛̛̞̩̘̩̹̍͑͒͛̌́̃͡ .̢̨̖̹̻̘̽́̏̊̆͢ͅ.̵̥̹̝̰̦̙̪̜̰͑́̉̀͛̾̿.̶̛̮͓̮̭̎̅́̍̀̑̕͜͡͡m̨̹̫͙̩̙̯͉͍̒̓́͌̈́͐̊͘͠͠į̧̳̹͍̝͔̯̗̲̆͒̽̔͌͘n̨͕̥̟̤̮͔̝̋̓̆͊̌̋̃̚͟͞ȩ̸̛̹͖̘̟͙̩̉͆́̏̋͛͞

Their eyes widened at that warbled moan. It sounded horrible. Like a broken radio was being drowned in thick tar and pierced by many glass shards. And worse. It was getting closer.

"Do you... hear that?" The redhead timidly asked, which everyone nodded in response.

.̧̢̢̰̮̼̰̻̫͇̆͌̀͑̅̊͝.͚͈͖̝͉̪̺̿̈́͗̊̓̇.͙̜͚͎̮̭̥̓́̈̃͟͡s̸̡̬̥̭̘̭̯̮͐̍̉̐͐͗͘͝t̨͉̥̮͎͍̼̺̏̄͗̌̈́̇ọ̥̗͉̱̤̰̅̾͂͗͞n̢̰̖͇̙̤̓͆̃̂͂̀͒́̚͟ȩ̷͙̠̻̤̣̋̽͆̊͌̏ͅ.̶̢̧̦̺̩̭͎̒̍͋͐͐̍̉͗̕.̮̻̘̘̫͆̓̋̋̈́.̩͎̟̗͍͙͊̈́̄̋̌̍̿͒̈̕ s̶̡̧̻͚͙̣̎́̆̐͒̕̕͡s̴̢̨͙̻̣̪̤͑͐̀̚͡s̡̡̠͙̱̟̄̄̐͂̓̊s̶͖̘̙̦̞͇̗̒̎̂͊̀́s̴̞͈͉̭̣̜̥̀̾̾̏̈̀̒̽̂̄s̸̡̱̰̥̖̯̩͖͈̍̅̍̓̏̿͢͡.̧̞̲͙͔̯͆̊̇͘͘͘͠͞͝.̪͕̪̲̫͚̓͆͂̾̃̍͋̂͡.̧̼͖̜͎̠̋̀̀̄͗͌.̡̪̬͇̰̞͙̬̎̈́̊̉͘͢͟m̛͓̫͎̤͋̈́̆̓̾̈́̊ͅi̪͓̜̒͋̏͒̌̾͆͜͜n̸̨̖̰͕̠͈̻̪̈́̄̌̊͑̈́ȇ̵͉̪̹̟̘͖͚̗͕̒̄̋̂͂̂̑̈́͘͟.̵̧̧̮̙̥̑̈̋̏̓̆̉͌͆̍͟.̳̪̣͔͚͍͚̬͓̍̅̇̿̉̋͝ͅ.̷̠̱͔̗̖̤̜͊͗̔̾̎͆̂̅̏̀.̶̼̳͍̜̜͌̋̃̄͐͐̍̋̕͝.̩͚̲͚͖͔̞͆͆̄̅̽̄̽͐͝

"Everyone, run back." Ren tried to instruct them, but all their feet stood rooted to the ground. Even hers. The groans were getting closer till the shadows revealed enormous black blobs. They slowly looked up to see a giant monster covered in dark substances with a cracked glass orb as its head. As if realizing their presence, it reared its head back and gave a deep and menacing roar.

t̶̥̣͉̗̬͍̼̫̤͓̾͆̅̇̂̊ḧ̞͇̭̩̰́͑̑́͟͞͞e̢͚̫̮͈͈͚͛̆̃́̊͊͑ s͉̭̰͖͇̀̊̈́̏́̋̀͟t̡̨̛̗̺̰͕̖̩͙͉̔̅̈́͗͗̑̎͘o̢̞͖̘̞̩̱̰͇͑̽͑̃͂̊̎͐̌͢͞n̷̝͍͎̘̖̒̽͗̊͟͡e̵͇̟̳̥͍̖̮̤̮̲̓̇̓͆̂̀̿̌.̴̖͇̺̣̌̿̒̉͘͢.͖͔͇̫̤̳͚́͌̄͛̀̽̄́͟͞.̸̡̡̡̻̞̲̥͍̓͛͐̄̌̈́̊͟ͅ i̦̰̬̺͍̥̮͕̻̦̋̎͋̍̄̅͆͡s̩̤̤̟̥̰̱͌͑́̔̑͑͑̏͒͘͜.̨̪̥̞͍̪͚̏̈̅͌̃͑͟͡.͚̻̩̝̘̹͔̯́̿̆̊̃̾̅̉͢.̶̢̩̱̦̯̐̂͂̍̍͢ M̷̛̮͔̟̼̩̤͌͌̾͐̒͟͠͞Ì̥̳̦͔̪̖̫͌͐̌̏̒̀̚͟Ṋ͉̖̣̉̌͑̇̓́̍͗͢͡E̷̛̟̱̬̱̩̤͋̐̓̀͛́͘̚È̵̬͔̜̹͚̭̈́͋̽̋̓È̼̣̠̘͓͇͎̤͔̝̔̊̆́̽͊̕͠E͇̥̖̖̣̤̗̘̜̅̑̓͆́̚Ē̶̞̰̗̞̬̻͚̮͒͒̕͟͝Ę̗̙̗̲̱̪͛̈͂̌̕͢͢ͅ

"AHHHHHH!!!!"

"Run! RUN!!" This time, her shout went through their heads, and they all ran.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Spade yelled.

"Ffghnaa!!! That Headmaster didn't say anything about this!" Grim cried, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"That Crow-man...!" Ren gritted her teeth, "I'm gonna kill him when we get back!"

"EHH?! Already planning to kill the Headmaster? You really have no fear, pipsqueak!" The redhead did a double-take at that. "...Hold on! Didn't it say something about a stone?!"

S̤͉̪̞͙̺̙̽̓̔̆̈͌̄͢t̬͇͈̟̳͈̊̒̉͞͠ȍ̴̟̟̤̠̥͇̰̯̈́́͞͝n̷̢̦͕̰͇̮͕̄̄̎̉͐̓̚̚͠ȩ̶͍̬͖̅̒̆̌͘͢ͅ.̶͙̥̣̠̺̰̟̃͌͛̌̋͆̒̕.̞͎̱̟̟͈͕͎̰̐͐̓͛̕͜͡͡.̸̳̖̼̹͙̐̅̓̚̕̕͟ w̸̢̞̻͚̬̪͔͆̔͆͆́͊͝ǫ̤̞̥͙͙͈̇̾͊̀̿͛͘͘͟͜͞ņ̷̟̺̪̪̞͛̈̈̄͌̓̎͘ţ̶͚̮͙͇͇̔̌͋́̐̇͠ g̸̢̫͔̯̜̠̓͐̐̿̑̏͞i̷̠̖̺̹̥̺̬̾̍͑͛̈́̄͊̚͞ͅv̷̛̪̣̖̭͍̻̮̹̎̑͌̇̽̇̆͛͡e͉̝̟̲͚̗͋̄͛̓̓͗̂̓͜ͅ.̴̛̮̙͕̫̫̹̍͒̒̉͢͠.̷̧̨͖̠̜͎͍̬̐̂͑̂̔̄͘͠.̸̘̠̠͚̟͋͌̆̉̓̋̂͢͞!̸̭͇͓̜̈́̇̽͐͋͑͋̃͢ͅ!̶̧̭̦̗͚̤̼͓̅͊̍͐̉̆͆̔͘͘͜ͅ!̧̤̰̻̺̦͇̽͌͋̊̑̀͟͜

"Trappola!" Ren gasped before glaring at him, which he smacked his hand over his mouth. His widening eyes literally said,  _ "Shit! What have I done?!" _

"You're right! There really are magic crystals left!" Spade brightened as he slowed down.

Grim seemed to get the message as well. "N-n-n-n-n-n-nope! Even the Great Grim knows his limits! Let's just go!"

"But we'll be expelled at this rate..." Spade clenched his fists as he turned around. "I'm going back."

"You can't be serious, mate!"

"Spade, don't do it. It's dangerous!" Ren tried to warn him, tugging his arm back with force. "We have to get out of here!"

"No. I'm not leaving till we get that crystal!" The stubborn boy swung his arm forward, "I cannot be expelled!"

"Spade! Don't be foolish-! SPADE!!!" But it was no use, for Spade had already dashed towards the gigantic ink blob. Ren closed her eyes in frustration before opening them with a scowl. "...Trappola, grab Grim."

"W-wait, huh? Whoa!" He had little time to react before the fire-rat was tossed in front of him.

"Human! What are you doing?!"

"Run back to the entrance! Hell, run back to the cottage and do not look back! Got it?"

"B-but what about the other dude?!" Trappola looked lost and exasperated, "You're not helping him, are you?!!"

"Just go! We'll catch up!" Ren hollered before sprinting to where Spade ran off to. She immediately found him, trying to fend off the monstrous dwarf-like creature. When she saw the Ink Dwarf was bringing its giant pickaxe back, she quickly grabbed his blazer and dragged him to the side.

CLANG

The Ink Dwarf swung its pickaxe, and it landed right where Spade was. Yet it did not waver Spade's thick-headedness. Thankfully, the Ink Dwarf had to yank its weapon off the ground but failing. This should give Ren some time to fetch the boy.

He looked alarmed when Ren appeared before him. "What are you doing, Ren?! You shouldn't be here-!"

"You're one to talk, stubborn boy." She hissed before stretching her fist back and-

PUNCH

"Oof-!" Spade could not do anything as the small detective landed a hit in his stomach! He blanked out before collapsing forward, which she swiftly grabbed his arm and brought him to her shoulders. With her back straightened and bent forward, she tugged his legs with one hand before getting up with her legs and hips.

Due to her current height, Spade's legs were dangling a few inches off the ground. But with this carry position, Ren could carry people twice her weight easily. Though she was surprised, she was able to lift him even with this height. Perhaps her strength had not changed at all? No matter. The ink monster managed to release his pickaxe, swinging its weapon again and-!

CLANG

"Ahh-oof!" Ren was thrown forward and sprawled on the ground with a dazed Spade on her back. The air pressure from that hit pushed her, but it did not scratch them, thankfully. With a grunt, she quickly shuffled to her feet, brought Spade back on her shoulders, and continued running. Soon, she managed to elude from the Ink Dwarf and spotted Trappola dashing towards the mine entrance. He seemed to sense her presence as he looked back and was shocked about her cargo.

"WHOA! What kind of strength are you hiding, pipsqueak?! Wait, why is he knocked out?!!"

"Less talking, more running! Unless you're dying!" was what Trappola heard before the little tyke sped past him, prompting him to do so as well.

"Hey! Don't jinx us!" He retorted back, but in his mind, he reminded himself not to make the pipsqueak mad. For he was not curious to know what other hidden secrets the kid had yet to reveal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda speed through this chapter cos I may or may nor have already fleshed out this arc, hope it wasn't too rushed haha... 😅


	14. Chapter 13: Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! Trick An Ink Dwarf, We Go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Next chapter is out! 🎉🎉🎉✨✨✨
> 
> Enjoy~!

Prologue

Chapter 13: Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! Trick An Ink Dwarf, We Go!

_"Spade... Spade, wake up." Who... who's calling me? It sounds familiar..._

_"Oh great, he's dead. Good job, pipsqueak." Is that... Trappola?_

_"I didn't hit him that hard! It was a... gentle punch." Wait... Somehow this voice sounded... different? It sounded mature with a touch of tenderness._

_He tried opening his eyes, his vision was still blurry, but he could make out three figures in front of him. One was kneeling beside him. One smaller(probably Grim) was lying on the former's shoulders, and the other, which he knew was Trappola, standing a few feet from them. That would mean the person beside him was Ren, right? Yet this figure seemed taller, older, and more... female? In fact, this person resembled to be a young adult, not a child. Was he imagining things? Where was Ren?_

_"Are you even hearing yourself? A gentle punch, really?"_

_He could hear the exasperation in Trappola's voice, though he didn't sound surprised by this new stranger. Where did Ren go? The older woman(?) seemed agitated as she bit back._

_"What else am I supposed to do? Let him run off to his death? We both know he'll just head straight on, without thinking..." She sighed before continuing, "even though we've only met for a few hours."_

_"Fgynaa... and we really ran a lot today..."_

_"Well, guess what?" He could hear the scoff in his tone. How could he say that to someone like her?! "He's on his way to highway to-"_

"Urgh..." The three snapped back to the unconscious figure groaning before slowly blinking his teal blue eyes in confusion. As his vision cleared up, the woman(?) vanished, and a familiar baby-faced boy was staring back with worry instead. "R-Ren...?"

Said person sighed in relief, his voice as youthful as ever. "You're awake, thank goodness. Can you get up?"

Ren helped Spade up to a sitting position, where he was lying against a tree. He looked around sluggishly, head still reeling and his stomach feeling sore for some reason. _"Ren's back... What happened to that woman...? More importantly..."_

"Where... where are we?"

"We're back at the cottage." He answered, "We've escaped from the mines after that huge ink shadow thing appeared. Thankfully, it didn't come out here. Otherwise, we'd be goners."

"What happened to me...?"

"You were being an idiot, so I carried you." Ren gave a tight smile, though it did not stop Spade from responding with a "Huh?"

"Still..." Trappola spoke up, "I can't believe no one, not even the Headmaster, said anything about that! Like, what the hell was that?!"

"Indeed. It didn't look like any ordinary ghost. Ah-!" Spade rubbed his stomach area. Strange. It felt like someone landed a punch to his gut. Was he attacked by that ink monster?

"And you both can see it? That ink creature thing?" It was Ren who spoke up, and the students looked at him with shocked expressions.

Trappola waved his arms exasperatedly, "Are you crazy? Only an idiot would not notice that sheer size of a beast! Of course, we can see it!" 

Spade noticed the small child looked stupefied for some reason before forcing his expression to a more neutral one. Was he expecting them to not see it?

"Let's just give up and go home." The redhead sighed in exasperation, arms slumped forward. "I rather get expelled than go up against that thing."

What?! "Don't mess with me!" Spade suddenly got up to his feet, already stomping towards him. "I rather die than face expulsion! There's a magic crystal right there, and you want to give up?!!"

The other scoffed in derision, "For someone whose magic is worse than mine, you sure talk big. Go on ahead if you want, but I'm outta here." 

But before he could walk away, a hand grabbed his collar, and he was met with blazing eyes. "That right, eh? Why don't you just stay here like the spineless coward you are?!"

******************************************************

Ren had to admit, she was momentarily stunned by Spade's burst of hidden(?) delinquent rage. Though it dissolved instantly as soon as Grim commented on it, the latter quickly snapping out of his stupor and later apologizing. He even looked slightly perplexed about it, but she didn't mention it. However, as soon as Trappola opened his mouth, it was back to square one once more.

"These two just can't stop fighting, huh?" Grim commented as they watched the two boys arguing and squabbling like there was no tomorrow. He gave his human a once-over and frowned, "You're looking a bit pale, henchman. Are you okay?"

Ren carefully leaned against the tree, inwardly wincing at her stitched wound. The stitches were still intact, but she could feel the gash throbbing from being thrown forward. Carrying Spade back here may have agitated it further, but she was glad the boy was not hurt in return. She forced the bile back down as her lips gave a strained smile, "...I'll manage."

_"At this rate, the scar will reopen by another hit."_ She refrained from speaking out loud, for she did not want to alarm the first-years and Grim. Instead, she pushed her back against the rough bark, applying pressure to the reddish wound. Even as she hissed and her hands clawed through the roots, they were too busy fighting to notice them. She tried to distract herself from the pain by trying to remember what their fight reminded her of. Was it like two puppies play-fighting? No, it looked more hostile than that. Ah. She got it.

Grim crossed his paws with a flat look, "They're such idiots, y'know."

"Between you and me, Grim," Ren whispered weakly. "Instead of two idiots fighting, I see them as a bomb waiting to explode."

"Huh? A bomb?"

"You see? You have the red wire..." She pointed at Trappola, who was sneering at the furious bluehead. "...And you have the blue wire."

Grim squinted his blue eyes before widening in realization. "Ohh... Now that you've said it, yeah, they do look like that."

"I'm glad we're seeing eye to eye." Ren continued as she forced herself up, immense irritation building in her. "Now, we need to cut one of them to defuse the bomb. The question is, which one to cut?" 

"Ohh..." Grim did not miss the increasing dark look in her eyes, gulping in fear. "And you already know which one?"

Without warning, Ren did not reply and slowly walked towards them. They barely noticed her as they snapped at each other, veins bulging from their throats. She positioned herself behind one of them and lifted her thigh, her foot pointing to the ground, and snapped her leg forward-

KICK

"Yeowch!" was what Trappola yelled before collapsing forward, slamming into Spade, and both crashed to the ground.

"ENOUGH!" 

Both jumped from that sudden shout as the little child retrieved his leg with an unnatural glower in his eyes. Trappola groaned as he rubbed his rear tentatively, "What is wrong with you, pipsqueak?"

That was a wrong move, for the smaller one glared harder at him. "What is wrong with _me?_ What is wrong with YOU?!"

The teen paled as he tried to back away as the ominous little demon just _snapped._ "You keep blaming on people's mistakes, but you're NO BETTER YOURSELF! I've kept quiet every time you opened that dirty mouth of yours, but this time you went TOO FAR! I HAD ENOUGH OF IT!!!"

Even as the teen back himself against a tree, Ren was not backing down with her fists at her sides. "You keep on trash talking on others, words more POISON than the other, and you don't think that you're in the wrong? You think your words are inspiring? THINK AGAIN! INSOLENT BRAT!" 

Trappola looked like he wanted to retort, but he clamped down his mouth. Feeling humiliated, he looked away as his fists tightened.

"And _you._ " She then directed her gaze at Spade. He straightened his back in fear. "Say one more time that you rather die than face expulsion, and I will SLAP you across the FACE!"

"I'm not your mother, but I'll do it on her behalf!" Spade himself took a step back as Ren stepped forward, jabbing his chest with every harsh roar. "How DARE you throw away your life that easily! How SELFISH are you to declare that! How would your mother feel that you said that, HAH?! Do you think your mother would be happy that instead of an expelled son, she gets an expelled corpse?! HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT! FOOLISH BOY!"

Spade widened his eyes, horrified at her unrelenting vocal stabs. His body visibly shook as he processed it in his head, looking down in shame.

Ren wanted to raise her arm to punch, but she huffed as she turned away. "And I'm at fault too." 

Both teens and Grim were surprised by her statement. They noticed her eyes were welling up but continued regardless, "I saw the signs. I heard the warning bells. The broken furniture. The huge slashes on the trees and rocks. Everything spelled DANGER, and I just lead everyone to that monster's den!" By then, she could not stop her tears from flowing. "Because of my misjudgment... because of my hesitation... because of my complacency! Because of all this, I have caused harm to all of you!"

"Ever since we stepped foot here, it's my responsibility to make sure you guys are safe, and I just BLEW IT! I ignored everything, and we all almost died!" She tried rubbing her tears with a wipe but failing. "But there's only so much I can do... Ever since I came to this world, I feel so useless in everything..."

In the end, she slumped down to the ground. "I can't do magic... I can't even assure myself safe... Why did I think I could protect you guys? Damn it, why am I crying?!" The small figure then aggressively rubbed her eyes, but it only made the tears fall harder. 

_"I shouldn't be crying... how childish of me... I shouldn't have yelled at them. They're still kids... Why am I acting like this? I'm the adult here. I should be the mature one... I feel so useless in this body..."_ was what kept replaying in her head as she huddled herself, covering her face with her knees while suppressing her cries.

******************************************************

The two students were at a loss, for they had never seen him cry like this. Seeing him all hunched up, looking even smaller than before, was... disconcerting. Then it struck them that Ren was probably the only one who felt the most pressured. They didn't realize their actions, which they acted upon what they thought was right, were causing more harm than good to the poor boy.

Trappola and Spade shared a nervous glance before the latter came closer, hesitantly placed his hand on the crouched figure's shoulder. "...Ren?"

"I shouldn't have yelled at you... I'm sorry... I should've been more mature... I'm so sorry..." 

Somehow, Spade didn't like how small and soft he sounded. Shaking his head, he gave a firm squeeze to his shoulder. "No. We should be the ones saying sorry. We didn't mean to trouble you this much..."

"You're just students. It's normal to make mistakes."

Spade decided to not point out that Ren looked like a student as well. "It's normal for you too. N-not to mention, you're supposed to be recovering, I think? So you shouldn't be too hard on yourself."

That made him snort a little, his face peeking from his knees. "Didn't expect you to comfort me. Not everyone has that luxury... but thanks."

The fire-breathing creature floated closer to Ren, rubbing his head to his hair. Ren visibly relaxed at this, even leaning his head to Grim as a way of saying thanks. "Sorry about just now, fire-rat."

"Apology accepted, human." was what Spade could decipher from all that purring noises he was producing. He extended his hand, which Ren took and helped him to get up.

"You can stay out of this, Ren." Spade gave a reassuring smile. "This expulsion problem is ours to resolve, so you don't have to pressure yourself-"

"No." Ren sniffed, wiping away the dried tears staining his face before continuing, "Sorry, but I don't trust you guys getting out of there alive. And if we don't get the crystal, you'd be expelled. If you guys get expelled because I back down, I will never forgive myself. We're getting that magic crystal together."

"Hold on there. What do we mean together?" Trappola spoke up, "Cos there's no way I'm working with him."

"Ditto. I don't see why anyone will work with someone like him." Spade scowled in his direction before sighing reluctantly. "...But if it's the only way to avoid expulsion, then I'll do whatever it takes to get that crystal!"

"Not only that!" Grim spoke up with confidence, "It's also payback for insulting the Great Grim! That ink monster doesn't stand a chance!"

"Weren't you shaking in your paws just now?" Ren raised an eyebrow and shook his head in exasperated fondness.

Trappola was looking away, kicking invisible dirt before realizing they all were staring at him. Sighing, he raised his arms in resignment. "Alright, alright. Fine. We gotta do what we gotta do, right? So, what's the plan, chief?"

Ren placed his hand at his mouth, musing in thought. "...As I've mentioned before, I can't do magic. I don't know anything about it. Since we're going against something that's definitely magic-related... Perhaps magic can help us in that manner? ...maybe something that doesn't harm the boys?"

It took only a few minutes for Ren to stay in that position, mumbling to himself. His eyes then widened as if a _Flare*_ lit up above his head. He glanced up with determination in his eyes, sporting a small twitchy smirk. "I think I have a plan."

******************************************************

The Ink Dwarf dragged his sludge-like feet as it walked along the cavern tunnels. It was not having a great day, for some trespassers came to the mines just now, making a ruckus. It did not matter if the intruders looked like children. Intruders were intruders, pillaging all their hard work for some easy cash. Those thieves thought they could do anything to their kinfolk, stealing carts of gems, crystals, and many more. Its brothers just stood there and let them take all of it.

...

W̡̫͕̱̬̫͕̪͊̏̿̅̆̾̈́̅͝͞a̢̨̧͕͙̭͉̮̗͊̀̌͒͠͠i͈̤̼̻̬͓̪͌̈̀̃́͟t̴̛̝͇̼̩̤̻͈̊̍̆́́͑̏̕̚.̴̧͉̖̺̮̓̋́̓͂͂̄̚̚͟͜͝.̵̡̯̟̱̲̞̠̫̦̂̉̔̀̓̓̈́͠͝.̶͇̺̗͙̹̠̾̌͒̑͂͆͢͝ͅ b̛̛̤͖̞̘̫̻͍͉͕͍̿̾͌̅ŗ̧̙̙̥͒̎̑̆͆͡ͅọ̡̹͖͎͈͇̗͓͊̈̿͛͒̿̕͟͞t̖̞̜̖̥̰̹̀̎͐͛͑̚͠ḩ̰̬̖̱̪͔͔̉͛͛͒̉͘e̴̡̛̻̗̻̳̞̫̲͊̅͊̔̀̀̇͑́ṙ̠̫͍͎̻̣̓͋̇̉̈́͆͝?̺̜͉̘͕͍͊̓͑̿̓͢ͅ W̡͕̲͔̯͈̣̜͔̓̂͆̔̒͠͡h̢̨̬̜̺̼͍̫̮̬̆̓͊̇͂̐́a̡̟̩͎͍̲̥̤͒̊̾̊̿̈́̏̎͘͜͢t̴̛̝̥̲̬̐̒̽̅̋̏̃̅͡ͅ'̴̻̥͉̬͕͙͍͈̤̓̊͊̆͌̚s͚̗̤͕͚̓̀̓͐̈ ä̷̤̹͖͈̗́̆̍̑̅͋͊͒̀ b̶̨͕̖̲̞̟̬̏͂̃̔̽̚r̛̮̩̱̥̟̩͕͆̆̽͒̐͛͘̕͢͝ò̵͕̼͍̣̬̜̜̱͙͐͒̀̾̚͝t̶̛̤̰̝̗̽̀͗̈̿̂͟͠͠h̷̨͓̯̩̘̙͇̄̊̓͛̏͐̔̎͢͠e̢̢̧̨̤̣̝̰͊̔̃͐̒̓͞͡r̵͈̜͚̠̖̳̈̅̅͘͡?̷̲̼͕̬̝͓̦̳͖̐̏̀́͒̔͆̑̍̽ 

The monster was confused, for it knew no one but itself. The ink creature had avoided that small cottage ever since that day, and had lived in this cave alone, alone for... how long? What was the reason again? Grumbling, it shook its glass orb of a head and continued deeper into the dark tunnels.

It should not delay any further. Time was on the essence, time to work. The monster looked around, feeling the faint magical energy till it found the precise spot in the walls. Ah, there was a crystal ore ready for picking. A pickaxe manifested from its stained hand and started picking the large crystal expertly.

_Dig, dig, dig._

_Pick, pick, pick._

_Heigh ho~ Heigh-_

"Hey, monster! Over here!"

Suddenly it heard a voice, the echoes bouncing off the walls. It was an unfamiliar voice, and unfamiliar meant trespasser. It let out a low growl from its nonexistent mouth as the monster stopped its digging. 

This would not do. All the gems, crystals, and ores belonged to the Ink Dwarf. These intruders, invaders must be punished.

No one should have its crystals. No one. 

"Hey, ink-head! Are you deaf?!"

Another unfamiliar voice. Another trespasser. How annoying, how _infuriating._ The stained pickaxe trembled in its tight grip as it swerved its head to the opening. And there they were. Two trespassers, a child, and a monster yelling and shouting taunts. 

Foolish.

"What's wrong? Not gonna chase us down, glass-brain?"

"Eh? H-human?!"

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Sludge-hole!"

Foolish.

"Scum-shack! Junk-ass! Crack-face!"

"̡̻͔̖̖̜̓͂͑̒̓̊̚L̻̲͚̥̱̯͈̰͚̈̃͑̀̄̎̆̎̾̾͜E̶̘͎͖̺̩̣͊̏̆̇͂͌̎͘E̴̡̫̭̩̗̖̗͓̍͋͂̆̆́̓̉́̂͜Ẽ̩̻͎̪̘̱̞͖̐̈̀̂̄̾͗̃͆͟͜Ă̴̛͓̣̻͚̹̫̿̐͂̉̎̊̋A̴̱͓̣̱̺̮̙͚͆̒̌̚͠A̵̢̛͇͇̩̞̳̙̘̗͗́̿̅͡͡A͎͇̣̟̠̱͕̝̬̿̃̀̊̕͜͝V̸̡̡̺̬̗̤̱̙̺̘̄͊̑͐͛͐͘͠V̡̭̗̪͇̻̣̏̆̿̍̀̅̂͒̉́͜V̺͕̥̲̝̝͚̏̓̂̂̋͑͒͊̈́̒Ȩ̷̱̟͇͖̲̺͇̱̀̂̉̽̔͐͒̕͠͞E̴̜̭̥̳̦͈͙͔̊͆̚̕͡E̢̨̝̬̩̲͆̈́̒̓̕͜͝Ę̱̻̥̘̫͔̋͑̀͐̀̓̌͘͡͝!̨̫̯̖͕̣̟̟͙̖̅̑̒̕͞!̸̢̢̢͉̘̯̱̻̓͒̏̈́̑̒̑͡͝͝!̢̳͕̖̘̳̓̿̄̅̍̈͞ͅ"̱͕̩̩̺̥͍̣̒͗͊̈́̀

The Ink Dwarf let out a screeching roar, stomping towards the insolent duo. With that, the child picked up the creature and dashed away. "Eeyup, that's our cue. Let's scat, Grim!" 

"Human! That's a bit much, y'know!"

"Leave me alone! I'm a bit unhinged right now!" The human child retorted, "And I can do worse than that... Be glad I didn't, fire-rat!"

"That doesn't mean you can- GYAA!! It's gaining on us!!!"

Į̷̻̮̺̪̟̋̆̅̐͋͑͜ń̷͎̲̦̘̓͊̆̕̕͟͜͠ṭ̴̢͓̱̭̐̀͋̋̅̑͘r̸̘͍̫̣̞̼̒͋͂̈́̓͌͌̌͜͞u̵̧̼̫͕̦̰̦̳̫̱̎͒̑̀̒̂̚͝d̸̛͔͙͚͇̩̦͐͂̈́͋̄̾͐͡͠ȇ̶̯͇̥͍̳͇̣̘̠͍́̌̅̈̎r̶̛͔̗̹͚͎̳̣̓̒̈̿̌͛͟͠ṣ̴̨̭̻̫̠̙̺͉̻̋́̓̏̈́̄͛͘͡͠.͉̫͉̯̱̤͔̦͎̽̂̆̎̎́͝.̨̛̘̦̦́̓́͟͠͡.̵̤̟̟̦̗̫̥̝̒͊̄̊̍̕̚ T͇̜͕͎̹͕͌̉̓͂̈́͆̒r͍̬̦̗͂̅̌͐̋̃͟͝e͉̻̺͕̺̅̃͆͋͗̑̆̋̔͘͟s̵̤͓͓̱͍̱̩̼̟͋̍͗̀́̕͘p̷̯̼̹͍͎̋̐͑͑̀̉͂̈̕̚͜a͕͍̤͈̣̯͐̀̚͘͘͟͠ş͓̻͙͖̯͉͗̋̑̽̄̐̉̎̅s̴̡̟̜̥͔̥̩̅͆̀̊̓̓̉̚͠ẻ̵̡̨̞̻̪͐͋̽̃̊͗́̕͠r̡̛̥͉̤̟̺̳̹͂͂̉̅͊̚͞͞s̝̩͈̹̱͖̀́̋̇̃͗͗̎̉͡.̠͇͎̞̮̭̈́̈̍̆̆̎̚̕͜͠͞.̸͇̝͉̥̪̇̈͑̓̄͛͘͢͟.̴̨̲͉̝͖̖͌̈̒͋̿͋͐̀̃́͜ͅ W͓̲̱̜͂̋̓̊̃̄̃̚͢ŏ̷̼̻̟̩̪̱̦̑̈́̐͗ņ̷͔̠̤̮̰̐̓̾̃̚͜͢͡ͅ'̷̨̧͙̰̠̮̞̥͆͒̊́̑̉̚t̴̺̮̝͙͐̌̌̀̂͟ g̨̧̛̩͓̙̜̳̈́̌̎̔̽͟͝į̛̙̠̪͉̏̆̽̽̓̄̚̕̚͟v̛͔̪̺̞̜́̿̓̌̚e̴̳̲͖̫̤͖̙͗̆͑̈́̋́̀!̷̳͔̦͈̣͋̈́͆́͌͂͟!̱̫̬͇͉̞͇͖̙̃͒̍͂̓̃̃͜!̡̨̢̫͖̖̊́́̈͐͟͡ M̨̢̢͙̳͓̙̤͇̊̆̊́͘i̵̢̥̟͕̹̙̤̩͒̓̿̇͡n̴̨̡̛̖̻͉͙̬͎̼͈̈͐̎͊̚ȩ̨͕͉̘̌̍͋͆̿̃̅̔̋͠!̧͕̞͉̬̱̐͌̾̔̀͐ M̷̨̨̬̱̼̼̱̺̺͑͐́̇͒͡͡ͅȉ̻̭̺̣̆̔̎̾̌̔̈́͢͢ṅ̶̢̢̢̗̣̪͗̃͊̔͊̋͟e̢͖͉̰̮͉͚͖͉̳̒̾̄͊̃̂̀̆͒͒!̴̨̱̝̞͈̖̰̈̽̿̂͗̂̿͗̕͠!̶̛̮̥̫̱̜̙̣̖͋̽̌̆̊̚ M̴̨̙̰͎̙͇̥̤̝͎̆̂̊̀̍̽̎͑͡I̷̧͍̻͈̲̙̺͑̂́́͌͘͟I̖͔̖̺̥̤̦̓̒̆̿̎̄͘͘͞N̶͙͚̗̯̘͈͆̏͂̐̾̔̚Ń̢͔̳̬͔̟̃͌́͌͠͡E͖̠̝̜̮̱̯̘̊̊͗̍̊͑͑͢͠͝͡ͅE̡͓̗̙̣̥̾̾̓̾͗͘͢Ė̠̲͔̙̪̻͓͓͓̓̊͑̚͟!̳̣͔͔̻̱̹͖̘͑̃͒͂͜͡!͇̠̲͕̟͎̉̈̅͂͂̓͟!̧̨̹̱̩͚͎̣̔͗͗́̀̎

The Ink Dwarf swung the pickaxe at the puny child, but he was quick and agile for a little rat. Evading and jumping from every swing and slash, creating several pits as the chase continued. It was so focused on squashing the pesky runner, it did not notice they ran out of the mines. 

The little intruder suddenly shouted, "NOW!" and the next thing it knew, the monster was engulfed in a whirlwind, which manifested into a terrifying cyclone of fire. The flaming hurricane was closing in, inflicting burns on the Ink Dwarf.

"͈͔̩̺̟̠͍̙͌̈́̅̔̂͂̓͆̅̋͜͜G̨͍͇͙̗͉̝͖̬͗͛͌̂̓͛̒̚͡͞ͅU̡͉͕̦̟̬̪͎̿͌̑̔̉͂͋̊̐͞Â͈̜̱͓̪̮̬̲̦̔̊̈́̌̈́͢R̸̢̺͔͎̙̪̩͇̔̓̄̍̎͌͐A͖͓̼̮̫͗̿͗̌̿́̚̚̕̚Ḧ̡̧̠̯͇̞̥̻̫́̀̀̓̀̄̊͒͗͡H̸̢̬̜̺̪͐͂͊̇͘̚H̢̢̢͎͚̟͎̘̞͑̑͆̏͌H̵̩̙̞̲͔̰̜̣̬̆̍͋̇͊͘̚͟-̶̨̦̦͙̜͔͂̔̓̽̽?̶͔̤̤͕̪̫̼̆̂̑̄̽̓̐?͇̞̫͎̝̗̺͊̔͑̎̿̄͗̽͠͝ͅ!̢͕̗͎̯̲̭̙̺̏͒̇̑͋͟!̢̥̠̞̝͔̬̼̩̻̌̄̅̽͡!̸̢̜͓̞̼̈́̒͑̽̈̒͜͞ͅ"̷̦͈͔͍͕͊̾̓͆̃̀̇

"Haha! How's that? Even Grim's shoddy flames can be an inferno, thanks to my wind!" Another unknown voice?! These robbers kept multiplying by the minute!

"How dare you call them shoddy?! You really can't say any nice words, huh?!! Ugh, whatever. Hey, it's your turn now!"

**"Strike down, Cauldron Bonanza!"**

The inferno dissipated immediately, and the Ink monster was greeted with multiple metal cauldrons, falling with the force of heavy rocks.

DONG DONG DONGGGG-!!!

"͈͔̩̺̟̠͍̙͌̈́̅̔̂͂̓͆̅̋͜͜G̨͍͇͙̗͉̝͖̬͗͛͌̂̓͛̒̚͡͞ͅU̡͉͕̦̟̬̪͎̿͌̑̔̉͂͋̊̐͞Â͈̜̱͓̪̮̬̲̦̔̊̈́̌̈́͢R̸̢̺͔͎̙̪̩͇̔̓̄̍̎͌͐A͖͓̼̮̫͗̿͗̌̿́̚̚̕̚Ḧ̡̧̠̯͇̞̥̻̫́̀̀̓̀̄̊͒͗͡H̸̢̬̜̺̪͐͂͊̇͘̚H̢̢̢͎͚̟͎̘̞͑̑͆̏͌H̵̩̙̞̲͔̰̜̣̬̆̍͋̇͊͘̚͟-̶̨̦̦͙̜͔͂̔̓̽̽?̶͔̤̤͕̪̫̼̆̂̑̄̽̓̐?͇̞̫͎̝̗̺͊̔͑̎̿̄͗̽͠͝ͅ!̢͕̗͎̯̲̭̙̺̏͒̇̑͋͟!̢̥̠̞̝͔̬̼̩̻̌̄̅̽͡!̸̢̜͓̞̼̈́̒͑̽̈̒͜͞ͅ"̷̦͈͔͍͕͊̾̓͆̃̀̇

"Nyahaha! Nice work, everyone! Look, human! Now the monster is squashed like a pancake, just like that jerk was earlier!"

"Don't bring that up again! Man, I just can't take a break..."

"Come on! Let's go get that crystal!"

The Ink Dwarf could not move an inch from that mountain of cauldrons, completely immobilized while the thieves made a run for it. It tried lifting its head against the immense weight, recognizing the same trespassers from before. The three of them, including the creature, set up this trap and were about to get its precious crystal! These pesky invaders...!!! Wait, where was the rude little one?

******************************************************

PICK PICK

If she was not useless, she would have stayed to ensure the trio managed to subdue the ink-monster. But she could not bear to witness the theoretical fire hurricane that she knew it was necessary to catch the monster off guard. As much as she wanted to deny it, she would have to trust them to do their jobs properly and not harm themselves during then. Once she ran out of the mines and gave the signal, she quickly ducked to the side and hightailed back while the Ink Dwarf was occupied by Trappola's cyclone spell.

PICK PICK

She ignored the guttural howls when the flames touched its inky limbs, picked up their pickaxe that was cast aside, and quickly sprinted to where she found the monster. When they encountered the Ink Dwarf, it was carrying an ink-stained pickaxe, and it looked really worn out. _"Based on that, it's either keeping guard or was making its rounds in the mines, picking out magic crystals. Probably a bit of both."_

PICK PICK

When she went back to that spot, it was just as she predicted. The Ink Dwarf was picking a magic crystal, and she managed to intercept it mid-picking. While the boys were trapping the monster outside, she took out the pickaxe and resumed the picking on its behalf. Even as the still-stitched scar throbbed (maybe bleeding) with every whack, Ren gritted her teeth while forcing her arms to swing with all her strength.

CLONK

Wide-eyed, she discarded the pickaxe and started shifting the loose rocks away before a bright light emerged from the jagged crack. A clear transparent ore with six prongs, glowing an iridescent sheen of blues, greens, pinks, and purples. The beautiful colors bounced off the cavern walls, creating a colorful light show as she curiously moved it from side to side, like watching through a kaleidoscope. "Whoa..."

"Whoa... that looks cool!"

Ren turned around to see the boys and Grim unharmed and safe, though they were breathing a bit too hard. Grim, on the other hand, was unphased since he took a ride on Spade's shoulders.

"So this is a magic crystal... We finally have it!" Spade sighed in relief.

"It's not over yet." She smiled, giving them a better view of the crystal. "Once we head back to the academy, we can now-"

BOOM

Suddenly, the group almost lost their balance as the ground below them shook. Some loose stones dropped from the ceiling, but it was nothing alarming. They had no idea what had happened or where that loud noise came from, but they looked back and saw that monster towering over them.

T̷̗̰̤͈̩̱̩̱̊͑̈́̓̀H̢̰̬͙̪̙̃͂͒̓̏͐̒̂͟Ḭ̘̯̫̺̝͐͐̊̽E̳̮̹̰̲̝̥̬̒̍̔̿̅̈́̇V̶̘̠͎̬̠̪̺̎̈͆̾̐̓͆͐͂͠ͅE̵̛̺̣̰̜̖̹̺̊͐͊̿͑̃͌̄͟͜͟͠Ŝ̠͕͕̪̬̥̓̒̃́̉̓͡͝!̸̦͈̣̩̼̤̱̐̓̽̅̃̓͑͟!̷̡̢̡̧̞̭͇̃́́́͊͢!͕͇̝͔̯̖̳͔̓̌̍̂͜͡ G̸̝̞̱̞͚̗͔͂̀͗̓͛͊̚ͅI̷̢̯̬̖̞͕̔̂̓͒͗͝V̝̘̫̫̤̅̂̂͐E̵̮̰̟̹̼̦̥̜̬̐̇̀̌͗̂͞ I̢̢̼͔̦̦̯̪̾͊͆͐͗͊̑̇̚T̢͙͚͚͙͇͖̻̜̳͛̉̍̇̂̂͠͠ B̺̯͕͙̆͌̉̓̋̾͟A̶͕͕͔̖͓̭̘̹̽̓̎̍̍͡C̯̝̪̺͈̺̺͌̓̐̍͐͒̒̿͞Ḵ̪̖̱͈̲͖̿̈͑͛̕!̡͙͉̟͉̝͙̫̯̭̀̿͂̇͐͞!̧̨̤̥͙̯̭͉̺̖̇̂̈́̎͌̚̕!̵̟̻̗͕͙̟̬̗̲̜̌̑͞͡!̸̨̛̤̹͇̹̳͖͊͑̚̚͝!̡̨͙̖̩͕̦̰̑̅͊̈́͂͘ͅ

"GYAA!!!" Grim shrieked with all his might. "The m-m-monster is back!"

"But how?! We've completely immobilized it!" Trappola wanted to yank his hair out from his scalp.

Spade went a few shades paler. "We... we didn't even hear any footsteps... How did it get here so fast?"

"More importantly, look!" They all followed to where Ren pointed and realized they were screwed.

The entrance to the mines... The way they just came in... was blocked by a large pile of boulders. And in front of them was a very angry Ink Dwarf, and it was out for murder.

"We're caved in!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're changing things up now! Will be adding an original twist to the Ink Dwarf battle~ 😈😈😈
> 
> I'll give you a hint... *Da-da-da-daaaa~ Da-da-daaaaa~* 🎺🎺🎺
> 
> Edit: I can't believe I forgot to add this at the end! 🤣
> 
> I'll be adding a few of my own original magical creatures, so anytime I pop one in any of the chapters, I'll add in the definition for them! 😁
> 
> Flare* - a fire faerie, size of an average human's hand

**Author's Note:**

> These are the translation sources I go to, they really help a lot!
> 
> Shel_BB: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyi0wrgNQPmjDz3YUPy4fQ


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